Analysis: This House Republican’s lonely road on impeachment shows how tribal our politics have become
Rep. Justin Amash on Wednesday. By Amber Phillips Amber Phillips Reporter for The Fix covering Congress, statehouses Email Bio Follow May 24 at 8:20 AM Rep. Justin Amash is open to considering impeaching President Trump, and he has been practically ostracized by his party for it. The conservative Freedom Caucus, of which Amash is a member, voted to condemn his view.
What has changed? Tribalism. Polarization was pretty intense in the Clinton era, too, but today the parties have become less willing to accommodate any deviation whatsoever, and the issues that define each side are more entrenched — making someone like Amash stand out even more. “They have more team spirit,” said David Karol, an expert in polarization at the University of Maryland.
Amash is facing similar wrath. He tweeted on Saturday afternoon his belief that his party’s president engaged in “impeachable conduct.” By Sunday, he had a primary challenger. If you were to pick up that impeachment drama and drop it in today’s political climate, the Democrats who voted for articles of impeachment against Clinton probably wouldn’t even be considered Democrats. Some of the five have actually left the party and become Republicans since, Karol points out.
"There is a strong ethos now in both parties that you've got to support your president,” said Matthew Green, a political science professor at Catholic University, who has written a book on the House Freedom Caucus.
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