Why would the Left spend so much time and effort on a cause (impeachment) that its members know has less than a 5% chance of succeeding?  The answer is that impeachment is not their real agenda.  This spectacle has two primary objectives — and both are about obstructing President Trump from getting re-elected in 2020.

First, Democrats are concerned that the president can rightfully claim several accomplishments under his watch (e.g., a booming economy).  They are desperate to minimize the chances of him adding any other new successes to his résumé.

Since any administration has limited bandwidth, the first rationale behind the impeachment effort is to keep the President and his administration focused on defending his prior actions anywhere (Russia, Ukraine, etc.).  The longer they can string out these distractions, the less chance there will be for the president to achieve additional accomplishments (e.g. with China, North Korea, Iran, immigration, etc.).

Second, the Democrats know that elections are won in the middle.  The impeachment hearings are intended to sow seeds of doubt in independents and other moderates.

Let's say you have a neighbor you've been friends with for over ten years.  Today, you find out that he has just been arrested.  Although our legal system is "innocent until proven guilty," typically, that isn't most people's thinking process.

Although your friend vigorously denies the charges, that does not erase all your doubts.  Instinctively, you know that even the most guilty criminals profess their innocence.

Your thought would likely be, "the authorities wouldn't be arresting this person unless they had good evidence that he's committed a crime."  So despite 10-plus years of positive experiences, seeds of doubt are immediately sown.  Even if your friend is subsequently proven innocent — a year later — the damage has been done.

That's exactly what the Democrats are hoping to convey to independents and other moderates.  Ninety-nine percent of the population has little interest in (and scant comprehension of) the machinations of foreign policy.  Most people couldn't find Ukraine on a map.  The impeachment hearings are all about instilling doubt about the president.

So what should the president do?  There are two simple strategies that (surprisingly, so far) his advisers have not effectively employed.

First is to take the high road.  He should not take the bait and get drawn into a slugfest with anti-American characters.  The predictable result of ignoring this advice is "When you sleep with dogs, you'll wake up with fleas."

Second is to use his bully pulpit and make a speech to the entire country.  (It's unfathomable why he has not utilized this more.)  If he says the right thing, in the right way, he has the power to radically change the conversation.  (If his aides need suggestions, I've already drafted such a speech.)

The bottom line is that this is not some political tempest in a teapot.  Our democracy, our prosperity, our sovereignty, our freedoms — i.e., America — are all at stake here.