I have to say that I've been very pleased with how the Democrats have been conducting themselves in the fight to get the government re-opened and to end the hostage-taking situation with the debt ceiling. I've also noticed the Senate Democrats staking out a position on the left:
repealing the sequester. Now, this is very smart strategy because it allows the Democrats to take a position on the left, and it also helps the GOP save face.
How does it help the GOP save face? Namely, by opposing the repeal of the sequester in any CR bill. This is what allows the clean debt ceiling bill to be passed with none of the GOP goodies in it since they'll have to go in and vote for the clean CR. They can go home to their voters and say we didn't allow the repeal of the sequester to happen.