Twenty Thoughts on the Government Shutdown

"Now that we're here, I want to offer some further thoughts on how we've reached this point, what it means, and where Dems should go next. 1. At least insofar as it shows that Democratic leaders have become more responsive to their voters, who overwhelmingly want to see the party fight Donald Trump harder, I am glad we're here in a shutdown, rather than raging at Chuck Schumer for surrendering preemptively once again."

"4. In short (and to repeat myself), as long as Democrats insist that their bottom-line demand pertains to extraneous health care subsidies, I suspect they will have a difficult time maintaining an upper hand in the determinative battle for public opinion. And that risks squandering their latest and perhaps final opportunity to either pull the country back from the brink of constitutional collapse or tacitly declare no confidence in the Trump regime."

Democrats denied Republicans the votes needed to fund the government, and Republicans lack enough votes to pass funding on a partisan basis, producing a shutdown. Democratic leaders' increased responsiveness reflects voter desire for a harder fight against Donald Trump. However, Democrats entered the deadline without a coherent plan, cobbled one together late, and adopted a confused posture unlikely to be sustained. Strategic confusion stems from treating anger over dictatorial abuses as ordinary policy disputes and defaulting to pollster-driven demands focused on health care. Insisting that demands center on extraneous health care subsidies risks losing control of public opinion and squandering a pivotal chance to avert constitutional collapse.

Read at Slate Magazine