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VOX

(22,976 posts)
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 03:58 PM Jan 2018

The New Yorker: The Progressive Attacks on Senate Democrats Over the Shutdown Are Premature...

At last, a sane analysis of Democratic strategy. Well worth the read.
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https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-progressive-attacks-on-senate-democrats-are-premature
The Progressive Attacks on Senate Democrats Over the Shutdown Are Premature
The New Yorker
January 23, 2018
By John Cassidy
In ending the shutdown, Senator Chuck Schumer veered off a path that could have been politically perilous for Democrats in fall’s midterm elections.

Liberal Democrats and progressive activists reacted angrily on Monday after a majority of Senate Democrats voted to enable the federal government to reopen after a three-day shutdown. “It’s morally reprehensible and it’s political malpractice,” Ezra Levin, a former Capitol Hill staffer who co-founded the anti-Trump Indivisible Group, declared. “Schumer led the [Senate] caucus off the cliff.” Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the Daily Kos, accused the Senate Democrats of aiding Republican efforts to block an immigration deal that would protect the Dreamers.
<snip>
In their pursuit of a legislative deal for the Dreamers, Schumer and other Democratic senators took the step of shutting down the government. If McConnell doesn’t follow through on his promises, they may well do the same thing again in three weeks’ time. Reopening the government was a tactical move, not a betrayal of the Dreamers. Whether it was the right tactical move won’t be clear for a while, but it was certainly a defensible one, especially in view of the broader political environment.

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bdamomma

(63,657 posts)
1. McConnell isn't going to follow through
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 04:01 PM
Jan 2018

what was Rachel saying about this last night, that McConnell could have done something but he didn't also he didn't want to pay the service men either, he said "I object". What an A-hole he is.

OnDoutside

(19,908 posts)
10. And if he does, then he hands the ball back to Democrats to shutdown the Govt again. He needs 60
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 07:33 PM
Jan 2018

votes for CR. Now he could do what he says he would do, knowing that Ryan won't let it pass in the house but again that just piles it back on to the Reps, on what is a 90/10 issue.

mcar

(42,210 posts)
12. The ball will be in his court
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 08:37 PM
Jan 2018

He can't say, although he will try, that the Ds are causing the shutdown if he refuses to bring the DACA bill to a vote.

procon

(15,805 posts)
2. Even if McConnell promised the Dems the sun and the moon, there was no such deal
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 04:23 PM
Jan 2018

made with the House. Paul Ryan doesn't have to lift a finger to kill the whole deal.

Demsrule86

(68,352 posts)
3. And what can we do ti about...many of those so deeply disappointed caused this by voting for Stein.
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 04:28 PM
Jan 2018

I recognize them on Social media.

Cha

(295,916 posts)
4. Thank you for this, VOX.. We all want Progress..
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 04:29 PM
Jan 2018

snip//

That last comment was unfair. In their pursuit of a legislative deal for the Dreamers, Schumer and other Democratic senators took the step of shutting down the government. If McConnell doesn’t follow through on his promises, they may well do the same thing again in three weeks’ time. Reopening the government was a tactical move, not a betrayal of the Dreamers. Whether it was the right tactical move won’t be clear for a while, but it was certainly a defensible one, especially in view of the broader political environment.

snip//

Another key point is that the potential roadblocks to a deal would still be there if the Democrats had again rejected McConnell’s offer. They might be even larger. With the government closed, Trump and the Republicans would be pounding the Democrats, claiming that they were holding hostage two million federal employees. None of the critics of Monday’s deal has explained how the Democrats would have been able to change this dynamic as the shutdown went on and large elements of the public got more disgusted about it. It seems fanciful to suppose that Trump, whose entire outlook on life is circumscribed by his obsession over whether he is “winning” or “losing,” would have capitulated and given the Democrats a better deal than the one McConnell offered.







zipplewrath

(16,646 posts)
6. Or a risky one
Tue Jan 23, 2018, 04:52 PM
Jan 2018

Whether it was the right tactical move won’t be clear for a while,...


As with so many things, we won't know for a while 1) what was the real strategy here (if any) and 2) if it plays out the way they planned. Alot of critics concern is that it relies heavily upon the GOP being forced to do the "right" thing.
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