Apparently, we’re supposed to think this, according to the WaPo
Democrats counter that the first step is the hardest. They are pretty sure DACA will come up for a vote, and they were already pretty sure a majority of members in Congress will vote for it.
But still, this feels like a high-profile stand without an equally high-profile victory. The key vote in the Senate still hadn't even wrapped up Monday, and a number of immigration activists were tweeting their displeasure with Democrats.
The article notes that Republicans basically got what they wanted out of the matter, though the Post doesn’t take into account the fact that the polls have been shredding Trump and McConnell on the entire shutdown.
They (Republicans) more or less held their ground when the government shut down after Friday's midnight deadline passed, and in the end, Democrats compromised way more than Republicans to open the government back up.
At first I was angry that “the Dems caved again.” As I thought more thoroughly, though, I’m not convinced that the media (as represented by the Post above) is taking into account certain other factors that play a critical role in how the matter plays out politically.
First: CHIP hadn’t been on the table until the Republicans foolishly (from their perspective) put it there as a bargaining “chip.” The Children’s Health Insurance Program had been unfunded for 4 months, likely with the Republicans looking for an opening to shave it down. They then thought they could shame the Democrats into passing the CR on the backs of sick children, it never worked. Most people who don’t follow politics were likely shocked that CHIP got to the point it did.
CHIP is now done for six years, no worse (and no better) than had we won the presidency. Had the Dems not seemed all-too-sincere in shutting the government down, it wouldn’t have been passed in that form.
Second: The entire grease fire exposed Trump, who comes out looking ever the incompetent jackass, but more importantly, now looking fully neutered, so to speak.
While the government entered its shutdown, what did you hear about Trump, if anything?
1. He paid off a porn star to shut up about his awful sexual performance post-tighty-whities. Karma that the porn star story about a not so powerful man came up as the same man faded in the whole ordeal.
2. The little we did hear, concerned his anger that he couldn’t make the party that he threw to celebrate himself, charging others $100,000 to celebrate with him. His anger made more news than his efforts in negotiation. Democrats couldn’t have created better anti-Trump optics with an unlimited budget, Trumpettes hear about caviar served on plastic spoons.
3. He was IRRELEVANT. Did Trump call everyone in and say no one is leaving until there is an agreement?? Did he put forth a proposal?? Was Trump out front on the microphone every two hours, bellowing about the awfulness of it all?? No. He sat in his tighty whities, put an awful message on the answering machine, and watched TV, tweeting away while the grown-ups worked.
4. Speaking of grown-ups, likely Scarbarough, Graham, and a combination of others have pounded out another crack in fortress Trump, exposing Kelly and Miller in a way that made Trump look inconsequential, easy to manipulate, irrelevant (see 3 ibid), to the point that it now appears that Kelly may be on the way out the door. The chaos continues and the more people rotating through the White House, the more people who will be telling stories after their tenure.
Third: McConnell and Ryan are now in the sights of a nation. The promise to take up DACA is out for all to see.
McConnell said:
“I hope and intend that we can reach bipartisan solutions on issues such as military spending, immigration, and border security and disaster relief before the Feb. 8 deadline,” McConnell said. “Should these issues not be resolved by the time the funding bill before us expires, so long as the government remains open, it would be my intention to take up legislation here in the Senate that would address DACA, border security and related issues.”
Have no doubt, it makes me sick to have the Dreamers in such a situation, but be just as sure that Co-President Kelly, Co-President Miller and Co-President McConnell would just as soon see Dreamers deported. Only the country’s political will can keep that from happening, and I don’t know that the will was there before this shutdown. I think the awareness and will are now there.
We know that asking McConnell to keep a promise regarding legislation is like asking a puppy to keep a promise about a hot dog, we know that McConnell is lying, Look at his damn language, CAREFULLY chosen, “It is my intention to … so long as the government remains open. He is ALREADY PLANNING HIS EXIT! But the country heard: “I promise to do DACA before February 8th.”
Even two-thirds of Trump voters support Dreamers. The vote is now set up such that an expectation exists that Dreamers get protection and only Trump and McConnell can fk it up.
McConnell will certainly try to get out of this “promise.” McConnell would try to get out of any promise. But, I think the Democrats have now boxed McConnell such that he has no room to wiggle, to the extent he does, and he will, he will pay for each millimeter. Trump will be increasingly irrelevant. Ryan? He can only lose.
I was originally angry that the Dems “caved.” But, I came to believe that negotiating DACA while keeping the government closed allowed the country to be frustrated with both sides. The Dems gave up 3 weeks, and exited the role of “bad guy” going forward. I think the Dreamers will win in the end, and McConnell, Ryan and Trump stand to pay a big price for each day they withhold their support.