Even if he lied about Bridgegate, Democrats would be fools to try to impeach him

There's talk of considering impeachment proceedings against our governor. Ranking Democratic state lawmakers are not ruling it out. Christie, who lamely claimed to have known nothing whatsoever about the Bridgegate lane closures beforehand or while they were happening has been fingered by both the federal prosecutor as well as the defense lawyers in the trial. Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Thursday that evidence coming out of the trial will "determine how we proceed."

Here's what could happen.
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto could decide to hold a vote on beginning an impeachment process. If the Assembly voted to impeach with a simple majority vote, the trial itself would be in the state Senate. The impeachment is not the removal from office. (Think back to the President Clinton, who was impeached but not removed from office.) The chief justice of the state Supreme Court would preside over that trial, and that trial in the senate is what could then remove him from office.

Here's why it will never happen.
The Democrats won't want to start something they might not be able to finish. You see, it's a simple majority vote for what has to happen in the state Assembly, but conviction for removal from office has to happen in the state Senate and that will require a two-thirds vote. Will they risk starting something they might not have the votes to finish? The current Democratic-Republican split is 24-16. They'd need several Republicans to cross the aisle. Dubious at best. Then, even if they could remove Christie from office, would they really want to this close to next year's gubernatorial election? Christie is posting record low favorability ratings. He's viewed by most as a failure and a snake. The Assembly's numero uno Republican Jon Bramninck points out removing Christie means replacing him with Kim Guadagno and giving her governor cred for many months leading up to that election. Would it better serve the Democrats to leave Christie finish his term as an incredibly unpopular governor and set the table nicely for a Democrat to take over, or put someone new in who might catch on quickly, be a breath of fresh air, and diminish the Democrats chance to take back the executive seat?

It's a no-brainer. I don't see this happening at all. Nor should it. With so little time left in office, and so much expense of an impeachment procedure that will turn into a distracting sideshow for the next 6 months, it just isn't worth it. Allow the stench to remain on Chris Christie and let him slither off into obscurity.

Even if he lied about Bridgegate, Democrats would be fools to try to impeach Christie