You think Ted Cruz isn't looking for a chance to build his brand by shutting down the government again?
This is an actual Politico headline:
Dems paint GOP as shutdown party
Umm, paint? Burgess Everett's astonishingly dishonest article does contain one partial sentence of inadvertent honesty:
The Democratic argument is based on history [...]
But the rest of the article is one big "but." But Republicans say that this time they're not going to shut the government down, they promise, and in any case, if they do, it'll be all the Democrats' fault anyway. But Democrats are using shutdown talk to raise money and engage voters and that's not
fair.
Did Republicans shut down the government last year or did they not? They did. Are they or are they not currently making noises that translate into shutdown threats, even if they've learned that admitting they're talking about shutdown is not a political winner? They are. So Dems are not "painting" the GOP as the shutdown party. They are making basic observations about recent Republican actions and current rhetoric. And, yes, attempting to use that to win elections. (Note to Burgess Everett: That's how politics work. You point out what the other guy has done and what you would do differently.) In short:
The Democratic argument is based on history [...]
Yeah, history—and the words coming out of Republicans' mouths.