Midterms set the table for a crazy 2020 race

This puts the Democrats in a bind similar to the one the GOP was in under Obama. A common talking point on the populist right is that the establishment “over-promised and under-delivered” during the Obama presidency. And that’s true.

But so did the populists. Both factions promised that Congress could “stop” Obama and repeal Obamacare if they just had enough votes. It wasn’t true. And that fueled an enormous amount of resentment on the right — resentment that cleared a path for Trump.

Now it’s the Democrats’ turn. According to exit polls, the vast majority of Democrats favor impeaching Trump now. Many Democrats avoided talking about impeachment, but they vowed to “hold Trump accountable.”

To be sure, the Democrats can investigate the president with all the intensity of a zealous prison guard snapping on his rubber glove to search for smuggled contraband. But that won’t stop Trump from dominating virtually every news cycle.

The things Trump does that most enflame liberal passions are beyond the Democrats’ power to check. He can still tweet and troll the media with abandon. He can still use executive authority on immigration. And he can still send an unprecedented number of judges over Pelosi’s head to the Senate.

Pelosi may want to hold off on impeachment proceedings, at least until special counsel Robert Mueller releases his report. But it’s doubtful the Democratic base shares her patience. And it remains unlikely that Mueller will find anything that would induce a third of Senate Republicans to vote to remove Trump from office. (Removal requires 67 Senate votes.)

Trump never won a majority of primary votes.

He merely had a strong and loyal enough following to get a plurality in a divided field. The bigger the field, the fewer votes you need to win. The greater the passion in the base, the more incentive there is to pander to it.

And that’s why it’s all going to get even crazier.