Donna Brazile's Advice to Democrats: Impeachment Is Not a Winning Strategy

WASHINGTON – Donna Brazile, the former head of the Democratic National Committee and one of the most influential Democrats in the country, tells CBN News that it would not be wise for the party to pursue a strategy of impeachment in their attempt to retake control of both the House and the Senate.

"In terms of a message, impeaching the president is not a message that will resonate beyond the base of the party," Brazile tells CBN's David Brody. "We need to have a message that resonates beyond the base, to the middle, to independents and others who will make the difference in this election cycle."

Some liberal Democrats in Congress, like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and others, want to see President Donald Trump impeached.  

A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed that 70 percent of Democrats would vote for a candidate who supports impeachment.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi doesn't believe it's a good idea.

That same NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll also contains a major warning sign: Overall, 47 percent of registered voters would definitely vote against a candidate who supports impeachment.  Even more concerning for Democrats is that 47 percent of independent voters also say they would vote against candidates looking to impeach the president.

Brazile tells CBN News that Democrats need to learn from the mistakes they made in 2016, specifically to be a party that plays to the middle with a positive message.

"We can no longer go out there and say, 'He's a bad guy, and she's a bad girl,' " she says. "We have to talk about issues that resonate with the American people… the American people want to hear solutions. They don't want to hear gratuitous attacks on each other…"

Brazile warns Democrats cannot just be a party made up of liberal states only.

"We can not just target a handle of states. We have to become a 50-state party… we took multiple states for granted," she says. "The fact that Donald Trump was able to pick the lock in three important states that Democrats have carried for maybe three or four presidential terms – he picked the lock because we left the door open."

Brazile is the author of the book, Hacks: The Inside Story.