Should any politician who has something embarrassing in their closet go full disclosure now so that it can't be used against them at a weak/difficult moment? Should they pre-emptively resign? I get the outrage about Northam- and his attempts to publicly respond to it were extremely clueless and tone-deaf- but I want to seriously know what the game plan is going to be from here on out. Northam isn't the first Democratic pol we've thrown overboard in order to maintain our ability to maintain "clean hands" while politically attacking Republican hypocrites like Trump, Roy Moore, et. al and he won't be the last but this- helping ignite public controversies over Democratic politicians whom upset them and/or Trump- seems to be how Republicans plan to maintain/increase their hold on power.

If he makes it to 2020, I'm not sure that I see a clear path to re-election, esp. with an energized Democratic Party (there's no reason to believe they won't be at this point). He will probably win handily in red state bastions (no surprise) and get the votes of his loyalist "base" of deplorables, but I don't think that he will win the states that he very narrowly won in 2016. I would like to think that enough people- outside of his base- are tired of his routine, tired of the chaos, and believe him to be irredeemable/ineducable at this point and will either stay home or pull the lever for anybody else.

but we can certainly make it politically unacceptable by categorically rejecting them, speaking out against what they're trying to do. I mean, they can still legally run if they want. We just don't have to accept/normalize it.

Whether he wanted it or not, he's been complicit in keeping it going. It could have ended in five seconds on January 3 if he had the Senate vote on the same bill they voted unanimously on in December but that's not what he did- in fact, he didn't allow a vote on ANYTHING for THREE whole weeks and couldn't be found unless it was to hold a vote on sanctions relief on Russian businessmen. Sorry. No sale here. #complicit

But it's pretty clear to me why they're pushing the story now- to sink Biden's chances in the primary *if* he decides to run. While his decision to speak for Upton during an election makes me feel a little uncomfortable, if you read more into the article, it seems as though they have a personal relationship/rapport because of Upton's advocacy for cancer research, which claimed the life of his son, Beau. Given also that Biden came from a different political era where Republicans and Democrats had more comity, I'm not really as shocked about this as some other people might given the state/makeup of the current GOP. I'm not sure that I will support Biden if he chooses to run regardless, however.

that he wants it to go until March or April! Is he serious? Are Republicans seriously thinking about going there with him? Federal employees are already straining and other things are starting to be affected. Federal Courts run out of money tomorrow. I know that Republicans could care less about some of these people but they seriously can't withstand the increasing political pressures of a partially shut down government for months and months on end. This all is uncharted- and frightening- territory to be in.

By the time things even start to get going on the project Trump will (likely) be out of office, either due to impeachment or defeat in 2020. Not even to mention that we shouldn't be normalizing hostage tactics for Presidents/MOC to be able to achieve what they want OUTSIDE of the normal political process. There's a reason we have a legislative branch and if politicians want something but can't muster up the votes for something, it just doesn't happen.

Or are they just going along with it because they're afraid of Trump/protecting Trump from another embarrassing failure? I don't really hear about Republicans sounding like they're actually much in favor of Trump's Wall so much as they are using it to keep the government shut down (probably to cripple it purposefully) and attack Democrats as "weak" on Border Security. Thoughts?