POLITICO Playbook PM: A small crack in Democrats’ impeachment messaging==

By JAKE SHERMAN, ANNA PALMER, GARRETT ROSS and ELI OKUN
10/09/2019 12:51 PM EDT
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SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI has led a fairly unified Democratic charge toward impeachment. She’s said consistently that Democrats don’t need a formal vote to move forward, but a few cracks have started to show. Rep. JOHN GARAMENDI, a Democrat who represents a district in Northern California, was on CNN this morning and said Democrats should hold a formal impeachment inquiry vote, as Republicans have been demanding. He predicted that’s what would eventually happen.

-- BETO O’ROURKE told NBC’S HALLIE JACKSON that he supports a vote as well. “I would love to remove that as a talking point or a reason for the kind of obstruction you’re seeing from the president,” he said.

OF COURSE, this is just a few Democrats. And Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) also told Jackson this morning that he didn't think a vote would work because the White House will stonewall. So, it’s hard to get a real sense if the process argument that both House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY and the WHITE HOUSE have been making is penetrating Democratic lawmakers’ thinking, since they are scattered across the country and haven’t had a chance to discuss the issue in person.

A FINAL DECISION will be made by Pelosi, who hasn’t ruled it out. But Pelosi advisers continue to argue that it’s unnecessary. They also point out that it was months before the House engaged in a similar vote during the Nixon impeachment process. And, even if Pelosi does move to vote on a formal impeachment inquiry, it’s unclear if the White House would participate. On a conference call Tuesday night, a senior administration official would not commit to cooperating with Democrats