With or without a presidential victory in November, Democrats must win Senate seats to have a fighting chance at taking the cannabis issue up a notch next year.

Democrats are busy trying to plot out a strategy to overthrow President Trump and regain control of the Senate in the November election. But, unbeknownst to the party, their actions over the past several months are blowing their plans to take over Capitol Hill right out of the water.

It seems that all of that impeachment business — a process that ended in acquittal on all counts — really stuck in the craw of the American people. Now, more voters have sided with Congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to a new Gallup poll. And that could mean hard times for the progress of federal marijuana reform come 2021. 

Although a lot is riding on this election year, the one issue that really stands to gain some traction, depending on how the cards fall at the polls, is marijuana legalization. Sure, weed has become a bipartisan issue over the past few years, but it is mainly the Democrats spearheading the cause. We watched last year as the Democratic-controlled House approved a couple of cannabis-related measures.

Much of the same will happen in 2020. The one roadblock that remains, however, is the Senate. McConnell and crew simply are not entertaining the concept of legal weed. In fact, they’re not supporting any part of the Democratic agenda. It’s because of this division that Democrats are hoping to win the Senate seats up for grabs this year and step into 2021 with all the power. That’s when a lot could get done, including federal marijuana reform.

RELATED: Divided Government Is The Reason Marijuana Isn’t Getting A Fair Shake

But Democrats might have trouble convincing America that their party is the way to go. The poll, which was published early this week, shows the approval-rating of the Republicans post-impeachment has increased by several percentage points. Surprisingly, too, is the overall favorability of McConnell. In less than six months, his approval-rating went from 47% to around 62%, a sign that we could be gearing up to see another several years of his heavy-handed influence on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, this could prolong prohibition in the Land of the Free.

Senator McConnell still refuses to get behind marijuana legalization. He’s said time and again that he has no plans to support such action. It means any marijuana-related bill that makes its way through the House is just going to get squashed once the upper chamber gets a hold of it.

Democrats are desperate to change the dynamic in the upcoming election. It’s part of the reason why they’re apprehensive about Bernie Sanders as their candidate. Much of the party is too concerned that his socialist ideas will turn more voters onto Trump and sabotage their chance at the Senate. 

And that can’t happen. 

Democrats are on a seek and destroy mission to lay claims to the 3-4 Senate seats up for grab (three if the new vice president is a Democrat and four if Republican). After all, if they are successful, Senator McConnell loses his position as Majority Leader and some new blood gets tossed into the mix. If we’re honest, that’s exactly what needs to happen this year.

RELATED: America Can Probably Forget About Federal Marijuana Legalization Anytime Soon

McConnell has been running the show in D.C. for far too long, and it shows. But where America has been mostly divided when it comes to their political affiliation, the latest poll shows that we could start seeing more voters leaning toward the Republican side. And much of this, as we suggested could happen in a previous article, is the direct result of the impeachment. It completely backfired.  

But is Republican rule a sure thing in 2021? Absolutely not. All we are saying is if more American voters decide to keep the Senate in the hands of Republicans — and Senator McConnell — marijuana legalization at the federal level is probably as good as on hold for at least another six years.  

With or without a presidential victory, Democrats must win those Senate seats to have a fighting chance at taking the cannabis issue up a notch next year. If not, we’re afraid prohibition will live on.