Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you have been waiting for.

For only the third time in the history of our country is the Commander in Chief on the doorstep of impeachment, as the Democrats begin their inquiry into President Trump’s phone calls and other dealings from his throne in the oval office. But one question remains: does any of it matter?

The presidential election is almost in full swing with many of the democratic hopefuls making the removal of Trump from office an integral piece in their campaign platforms. The problem is, do voters want him impeached? According to CBS News, only 55% of people in a recent poll support impeachment. This may seem shocking, but in context, it makes a lot of sense. With the election only months away, why waste time on impeachment that will not end up doing anything? For voters, it’s a lot easier to wait and simply vote Trump out of office than waste time with what appears to be a meaningless impeachment process.  

And this is the crux of the matter. Impeaching a president when you control the House is easy. The issue lies in the Republican-controlled Senate which is responsible for trying the impeachment. Chances are, this impeachment will play out very similar to that of the impeachment of President Clinton. It will die in the Senate when the President’s party closes ranks around him.

So what’s the big take away? Why does it matter if the impeachment fails?

The problem is perception. In the eyes of his base Trump can do no wrong. And the reality of it is, if he beats impeachment he will look even stronger than he did before. According to the New York Times, the impeachment process will do very little to the exterior world view of Trump, but to his supporters he will have beaten the very system that has dogged him from day one of his presidency. This has been his rallying cry for the past three years: the fact that he won an election, no one thought he could or would win. 

According to Gallup, only 40% of voters approve of the way Trump is handling his presidency—not that this has ever mattered to him since he first took office. Trump plays to his base and that is in part what won him the election in 2016. It’s what he is hoping will win him this election.

The Democratic leadership was forced into a corner by their own party’s calls for this action. And this could be their undoing. In their efforts to please the party, they will fail at the ultimate goal of chasing the President out of office. He will simply come back stronger, and then we will be stuck in another circus for four more years.