BRINKSMANSHIP: Maybe they hope it will be voted down! Suddenly, House Democrats want a formal vote on impeachment. “My first thought was, the Democrats are in trouble, they know the impeachment inquiry is dragging them down, and they want the vote to fail. But here’s how Nancy Pelosi put it.”

Plus: “To get a no vote, some Democrats will need to vote no, but there are 31 House Democrats in districts that Trump won in 2016 (and 55 districts with Democratic representatives that the GOP is targeting in 2020). If the Democrats want a no vote, there could be a way for some of those threatened Democrats to stage some political theater about their independence and their somber judgment that the American people would be best served by concentrating our attention on the next election and vote no.”