I understand why this must be done, BUT still impeachment is very unpopular according to polls and this could backfire.
if you don't start impeachment proceedings because of what Trump did with the Ukraine, you set a dangerous precedent that would allow future presidents to do the same (if not worse) and know there are no repercussions. Even if you know impeachment won't happen (because the other guys run the Senate) there has to be a record of you trying. Who knows, Mitch McConnell might actually find a spine inside his slimy bag of endoplasm.
Trump's fans will have no trouble dismissing the reason for the House moving to impeachment proceedings. They will "know" it's a nothingburger and a partisan hack job. They won't even question.
The vast un-involved mass of 'checked-out' Americans might be more likely to see this as not being to Trump's credit -- if they ever hear about it.
Call me cynical, and I know this opinion will not be popular here... But unless McConnell and the senate Republicans grow a spine, the only hope, now, of escaping Trump term version 2 is to hold off the vote - hold off sending this to the Senate. Because once the vote is taken and the Senate acquits, there will be no more investigation. There will be no more chance to 'explain to the American people' Trump's crimes.
The pressure to hold the vote NOW will be relentless. "Don't you have enough information to vote articles of impeachment? What's wrong with you? What more do you need?" this is the new drumbeat. It will be inescapable. It will play without ceasing, day and night, for months to come. Hopefully, they don't waste the hearings grandstanding and preening for the cameras, and instead have someone like Barry Berke, the attorney who pigeonholed Lewandowski, take the lead
Hold the line, Democrats. Keep on with the hearings; let us know about your court filings; go on calling for more investigation. In other words: Benghazi him to death.