That would be incredibly dumb.
Lets say the democrats decide to wait until after the election to proceed with impeachment, to let all the subpoenas play out in court. Trump engages in illegal activities to fix the election (extorting Ukraine to interfere, perhaps allowing Russia to continue its activities). It tips the balance in favor of the republicans again.
So, the democrats impeach. And 'win'. And they are STILL left with a republican president, who continues to have the authority to nominate right-wing judges, issue executive orders that push a racist agenda, etc.
Much better to, you know, make sure any election is FAIR. i.e. not subject to illegal manipulation by Trump and the republicans, rather than to try to take action AFTER the election is finished.
Now that I have a keyboard, let me go into why I think this post shows why impeachment will be a losing issue for Democrats.
First, let me say I think your thoughts are shared by many Democrats and supporters.
Second, let's recognize that I'm talking about voter impact, as opposed to some higher concept of what ought to happen in an ideal world. To think about voter impact, you have to recognize there are a bunch of hard core Trump supporters and a bunch of hard core Trump haters. Neither group is going to be swayed by darned near anything, but the two groups together make up most of the electorate. However, the smaller group left, the group of people whose minds are not made up, are the ones that will decide the election, so they're the ones that matter. How they see the impeachment will determine how their votes are influenced.
Your reasoning on why we can't wait until after the election demonstrates that you aren't worried about a criminal in the White House nearly so much as you are worried about a Republican in the White House. People can see that, and they'll resent it.
Second, you are talking about elections being stolen. It's a common theme, and it is saying, "Last time, when you voted for Trump, you didn't really mean it." They'll resent that, too.
Third, you are saying that unless our team wins, there must be cheating. That, too, is something people won't accept, and will be angry at the person saying it. (I was appalled to hear Schiff say that we can't trust the upcoming election. That's really, really, bad.) Do you really think Democracy is lost in America? If I believed that I really would move to Canada or Ireland or someplace else, or, quite literally, take up arms. I don't think it's true.
You have to accept that people really did vote for Donald Trump in sufficient numbers to win the election. Yeah, there's an electoral college asterisk there, but he still won. Saying he cheated last time or will cheat next time looks bad. (I think last time around, his own complaints about a "rigged" election cost him votes, although obviously not enough.)
The reason that Trump won is, in my humble opinion, because a lot of Americans know that you hate them, and they hate you right back. Trump was the enemy of their enemy. Impeachment reinforces everything they already believe about Democrats and those who elect them.
Balanced against that you have the opportunity to embarrass Trump in the coarse of the impeachment, or, the grand prize, to goad Trump into doing something that even a fraction of his hard core supporters couldn't defend, and would alienate most of the undecideds. It's Trump. It could happen. So, it might turn out for the best, but if I were putting money into the prediction markets, impeachment would make me more inclined to put it on Trump.
