The release of the Mueller Report last week produced two very predictable results. Trump and his supporters and his supporters and his minions and his sycophants were always going to claim total and complete exoneration no matter what was actually contained in the report. And they did.

Democrats and believers in some salvageable aspect of American democracy already knew that Trump is mendacious, vicious, delusional and totally devoid of any moral compass. From Stormy Daniels to the “Hollywood Access” tapes to his takedown of James Comey (and bragging about it to the Russian ambassador the United States), there is no way that Trump should not at least have to answer to the accusation of “high crimes and misdemeanors”. So the Mueller Report in large part told the Democrats what most of the planet already knows –Donald J. Trump is unfit to be President of the United States.

So if the Democrats in Congress were looking for a reason to impeach Trump, the Mueller Report simply told them what they already know. The Mueller Report even concluded with a bright shiny neon sign that says everything but “This Way to Impeachment”. The question for the Democrats in Congress as well as those crisscrossing America in search of the Holy Grail of the Democratic nomination for president is quite simply – what are they going to do about it?

Ironically, pursuing impeachment would be the answer to Trump’s prayers. Aside from lying and insulting and cheating, Trump is not the master of much. But he is the master of distraction. The Tweeter in Chief has proven that he can get the Democrats, and most of America, to follow the bright shiny object of his outrage de jour, thereby changing the national dialogue to a debate over how outrageous, racist, disgusting, misogynistic, xenophobic, ridiculous or ignorant he is or isn’t.

Meanwhile, the horror show that is the Trump administration oozes across the country slashing funding for food stamps, health care and education. While the nation wonders “what will Trump do/say next?” he is seeding the federal judiciary with lifetime appointments for Federalist Society zombies who are pledged to turning back the clock to a time when civil rights, gender equality, environmental protection and a woman’s right to choose simply did not exist. And even though these outrages are taking place in plain sight, the Democrats are tempted to focus their outrage on Trump the man instead of the Trump presidency.

The clear and present danger is that the Democrats will end up dancing with the Tar Baby of Impeachment. The Democrats, if they go down Impeachment Boulevard, will find themselves mired in a process that can only lead to a Senate vote not to convict Trump, even if were impeached.

Meanwhile affirmative action, safety for workers, regulatory protection of food and drugs are being compromised by the moment. Meanwhile, Trump is raising millions of dollars for the 2020 campaign and he would love nothing more than to have the totally partisan Democratic impeachment proceedings as his campaign theme.

The Democrats in Congress would do better to allow various committees to investigate Trump’s tax returns, his business dealings in the U.S. and abroad along with his seeming infatuation with avoiding Congressional confirmation of his cabinet-level appointments. None of these investigations will change Trump’s behavior, but the results will certainly be useful talking points for the 2020 campaign. These are talking points that will be a lot more useful than the result of pursuing (and explaining) an ill-fated impeachment strategy.

And speaking of 2020, if there is anyone in the Democratic National Committee who thinks that having 20+ candidates exhausting the attention span of American voters is a brilliant strategic move, they should probably go back to Trump University for a post-graduate course. And a sure sign that this is the wrong strategy is that Trump barely takes time to send out a perfunctory tweet attacking any one of the Terrific Twenty. Even Trump knows that he need do nothing but let this circular firing squad go at it so that he can pick off the wounded survivors at his leisure.

Indeed, the Democrats have a lot to worry about other that the quixotic crusade to impeach Trump. Right now, they need to ignore the bright shiny object called impeachment and focus on winning in 2020.

Literally, nothing else matters.