The so-called conventional wisdom which held that the nation would turn on congressional Democrats if they dared pull the trigger and begin an impeachment proceeding against Donald Trump no longer appears to be operable–if it was ever valid to begin with.

A new Washington Post poll is out Tuesday, and it’s not good news for Trump. A majority of Americans already support House Democrats beginning their impeachment inquiry against Trump. And, already, at this early stage, nearly half of Americans would endorse the House recommending Trump’s removal from office.

But, as bad as all that is, that’s not the worst of it for Trump.

For all of Trump’s vaunted grand support within the Republican party, and Republicans who will instinctively fall in line for their president, the same poll finds 28 percent of Republicans already backing the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. And, somewhat astoundingly, at this early point, 18 percent of Republicans support removing Trump from office.

If this is where the American people–and even Trump’s Republican base–are now, so early in this process, it’s certainly not going to go in Trump’s direction here on out.

If Trump expects Republican senators to eventually protect him from removal from office he may be deeply disappointed, as–by then–Republican voters back home may be clamoring for something else.

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