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Good morning. I'm Erica Morrison and welcome to your Politico Playbook audio briefing. We are halfway through the week and that means it's day two of former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial. But already, this time, things are a little different. Bloomberg is reporting that Senate

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans this is a vote of conscience

and that senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict

the former president. Two people familiar with McConnell's thinking suggested he hasn't made up his

mind on how he'll vote, despite his vote Tuesday that it's unconstitutional for the Senate

to hear the case against the former president. We'll have to wait and see. In case you didn't

have time to watch day one of the trial, here are playbook's six top takeaways.

Number one, House impeachment managers nailed it. They prepared for weeks for the moment,

and it showed. Jamie Raskins' emotional appeal to the senators left the chamber in stunned

silence. He told the story of burying his 25-year-old son one day and being petrified

the next that a mob would kill his other kids in the capital with him. And Representative

Jonah Goose shredded the Trump argument that a post-presidency trial is unconstitutional.

Takeaway number two.

Trump's attorneys blew it.

There's a reason my cousin Vinnie started trending on Twitter when Trump's lawyers took the floor.

The meandering presentation by Bruce Castor barely made sense.

One minute, he was complimenting senators.

The next, talking about getting lost in the halls of Congress.

Then he digressed about the phrases, floodgates will open versus release the whirlwind. And what was with the rambling about

smart jurist in Nebraska? Richard Burr reportedly told fellow Republicans in the cloak room,

I ain't no lawyer, but I know enough to know that was some bad

...