"It was a tepid bore," said Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett in reaction to the first day of public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump.
"It was a little boring and complicated," conceded Fox News contributor and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Judith Miller.
That was a sentiment shared by a number of journalists, including NBC News' national political reporter Jonathan Allen, who wrote of the proceedings, "[i]t was substantive, but it wasn't dramatic."
On Fox Nation's "Deep Dive," Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger asked a panel of fellow journalists if the Democrats may have botched their handling of this process.
"It was not high drama," observed Henninger of the hearings. "Let's assume that it kind of runs at that level for the next week or so and they eventually get around to a vote in the House," he continued.
"Only two Democrats voted ... against [formalizing] the impeachment inquiry. Do you think it's possible that more may defect?" he asked.
"Sure, it's possible," said Wall Street Journal editorial board member Kyle Peterson, saying that moderate Democrats may decide to abandon their effort if opinion polling shows Americans souring on the prospect of impeaching the president.
"I'm starting to think that Democrats maybe made a mistake in doing the private hearings first and then releasing the transcripts," Peterson continued, "because a lot of people's reaction to the public testimony ... is 'We knew this already.'"
"Definitely, I agree with you that there is not been enough drama," said Miller, who added that she personally believes that the president committed impeachable behavior in his dealings with Ukraine.
Jarrett said that there is also growing discontent among Americans about an impeachment inquiry, less than a year away from a vote to elect the next president.
"I think people are sick of it right now, especially since it is so close to an election," said Jarrett. "I think they're saying to themselves, 'My God, are you really going to try to remove the president? Just, you know, months before we have a right to judge whether he should be removed?'"
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Miller agreed with that sentiment and observed that it is possible that the Democrats' gamble may hurt them.
"I think that the reason that Nancy Pelosi hesitated for so long and held the line for so long was that she was precisely worried about how this would play with the American public so close to an election," she said. "If these are really serious charges, let the American people evaluate them when they go to the polls in November. Because we are really, really close now, you know, within one year. So I think that it may backfire."
To watch all of "Deep Dive" go to Fox Nation and sign up today.
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