Just When It Looked Like the Shutdown Might End

"All of that changed as the vote totals rolled in. Democrats' resounding statewide victories in Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, and elsewhere highlighted a more robust repudiation of Trump and his party than politicians from either side of the aisle had expected. Now both parties are recalibrating their shutdown strategies while the White House weighs a more direct role in cutting a deal. Any prospect of the government reopening this week appears to be slipping away."

"Some Democrats feel like they have finally landed a clean punch after nine months of taking body blows from a pugilistic president. Letting up now, they are telling their more moderate colleagues, would be akin to surrender after voters gave their party its first burst of political moxie since Trump won a return ticket to the White House 12 months ago. "Democrats have looked pretty weak for most of this year and, over the last month, we have shown strength for the first time,""

Democratic statewide victories shifted momentum and undermined expectations that moderates would quickly settle to reopen the government. Both parties began recalibrating shutdown strategies while the White House weighed a more direct role in brokering a deal. Many Democrats, feeling politically strengthened after months of pressure from the president, resisted cutting a compromise that fell short of restoring key health-care subsidies. Back-channel negotiations among moderate Democrats and Republican senators continued, but the election outcomes reduced incentives for immediate concession and made reopening the government this week increasingly unlikely.

Read at The Atlantic