House Democrats have been constrained by being a distinct minority since November 2010. But popular vote loser Donald Trump and his disastrous poll numbers, as well as the total dysfunction in the fractious Republican party is giving them both hope and the drive to follow the lead of the people and resist.
House Democrats are ready to flex their muscles, providing a list of demands Republicans must meet if they want Democratic votes to keep the government running beyond Friday. And they could be key players on tax reform and infrastructure in the coming months, if Trump ends up needing bipartisan buy-in.
“It’s a great time to be a Democrat,” said Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, warning Republicans that even if they do achieve some of their biggest goals—like dismantling Obamacare—they will pay at the polls.
“We know we’re going to lose some battles between now and 2018, but every one of those losses costs the other side votes,” he said. […]
In the immediate future, House Democrats have significant leverage in ongoing talks to keep the government open beyond the April 28 deadline.
With hard-line conservatives frequently opposed to spending bills, Republican leaders will likely need a number of Democratic votes to avoid a government shutdown. And [Democratic leader Nancy] Pelosi is nothing if not an expert vote counter.
The energy of the people—we saw it again this weekend in the nationwide March for Science—is certainly helping strengthen their backbone. That's not just showing up in the streets in these huge marches and protests, but also in public polling, where there's a massive enthusiasm gap in favor of Democrats, as shown in a survey from Global Strategy Group and Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group, Priorities USA conducted at the beginning of April.
It shows that there's real motivation among Democratic voters who generally sit midterm elections out to show up for this one. In fact, 58 percent of the non-midterm voting Democrats "said they were extremely motivated and enthusiastic about voting in the 2018 elections, rating their interest as nine or 10 on a 10-point scale." Another 22 percent said they were "somewhat" motivated to vote in the midterm.
That's good enough to energize congressional Democrats and terrify enough Republicans to make a difference. Democrats know they can fight back now and are doing it.