There's been one, and only one impeachment inquiry. Most Democratic voters believed it should've happened much sooner, myself included, but that doesn't change the fact that it didn't. It's happening now. And sure, you can claim that Dems knew Trump would fuck up bad enough to qualify for impeachment, but nobody knew exactly when or how he would fuck up. The fact that he proved them right in the end just goes to show how staggeringly incompetent the man is, not to mention the people he has chosen to surround himself with.
Indeed there's a very slim chance he's removed from office. As some opinion pieces have pointed out, Nixon probably wouldn't have left office either if he had Fox News to defend and fellate him 24/7. At the very least, however, several purple state Republican senators are going to be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes time to vote.
On the off chance Trump is removed, Pence would be a lame duck for what little time he has left, and would be guaranteed to lose re-election without Trump's WWE-style personality to carry him. I'd hardly call that a "win" for Republicans. Rather it would be a massive national embarrassment which would stick in the minds of voters for decades.