Tactically, Sen. Schumer is right: Being (justifiably) blamed for a government shutdown wouldn’t help his party. And Democratic strategists like James Carville are also right: There’s nothing to be gained by “winning” the news cycle in the middle of March in an odd-numbered year. It’s smarter to play dead, give the opposition just enough rope to hang themselves, and rejoin the game a few months later to “save the day.”
It’s like the old saying goes: We can’t miss ya if ya never go away.
As a long-term PR strategy, the Democrats would love to create the impression that they really, truly tried to cooperate with President Trump, but dagnabbit, heavens-to-Murgatroyd, those MAGA-maniacs were just too evil. And now, look what happened: [gestures wildly at whatever stat/issue polls well]. See?! For the good of our nation, we desperately need more Democrats in D.C. to reign Trump in — so vote “Blue Wave” in 2026!
The messaging doesn’t land the same if you’re constantly throwing bricks, tomatoes, roadblocks, and monkey wrenches at the Republicans. Instead of being perceived as the white knight riding in to rescue the princess, you’re seen as a self-serving saboteur.
Schumer spends a lot of time wining-and-dining Democratic donors. He has a keen ear for the establishment wing — hell, after Biden’s exodus and Pelosi’s bone-breaking tumble, Schumer is the establishment wing! So, we can safely conclude that his sudden surrender on the shutdown was pushed and promoted by the Democratic Party bigwigs — those ultra-wealthy donors who dominated the Donkeys during the Biden years.
But it came at a very high cost: The Democratic establishment just spent the last of their political capital.
Related: The Dems Are… Winning?! Hakeem Jeffries: ‘We Have the Republicans on the Run!’
The Republican Party and the Democratic Party have much in common. In addition to being corrupt, slow-moving, and insular, both parties’ bases always think the exact same thing: “Their party is evil! Our party is just stupid! If only our party was smarter, we’d win every election!”
It’s a simple, digestible message: We’re good. They’re bad. So, if/when we lose, it’s OBVIOUSLY because they were too devious — and our own leaders just weren’t smart enough to stop ‘em.
Which is why the liberal base isn’t reacting to Schumer’s surrender with tacit approval. They’re not thinking, “Okay, long-term, Schumer’s decision positions us better for the midterms. Of all the issues we could ‘own’ in 2026, claiming the ‘more government shutdown!’ mantle would’ve been about as off-target as you could get.”
Nah.
They’re thinking, “Trump tricked stupid Schumer.”
And it’s being spun — in liberal circles! — as another Democratic defeat:
Liberals including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are spearheading calls to vote against the House proposal, which would make cuts to nondefense programs and wouldn’t prevent Trump from shifting around funding to favor his own priorities.
Warren argued the House bill would give President Trump and Elon Musk “a blank check to spend your taxpayer money however they want.”
“We need to push back,” she declared.
Sanders said it would “literally take food out of the mouths of hungry children, take health care away from seniors, and give a huge tax break to the wealthiest people on the planet.”
Merkley said the “House Republican plan is horrific.”
“And we should be, Hell No.”
Staving children. Dying old people. Greedy rich people. How horrific! It’s a smorgasbord of classic liberal talking-points!
And it’s why we’re now seeing headlines like this one (in Newsweek): “AOC Rages at Democrats for ‘Betrayal’ Amid Government Shutdown Talks.” Or this one (Politico): “Schumer’s shutdown ‘surrender’ sends the left into a rage.”
Republicans’ partisan spending bill turns the federal government into a slush fund for Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
It’s unthinkable that any Senate Democrat would hand them a blank check by voting for cloture. pic.twitter.com/bAfJabwfkN
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) March 14, 2025
Liberal donors are often surprisingly pragmatic, mostly because they have (considerable) financial interests to protect. They’re thinking about profits, expenses, and year-to-year projections. But the liberal activist base of the party doesn’t share this burden: They’re broke!
They’ve got nothing to lose by the stock market crashing. But potentially, depending on the political fallout, they have two houses in congress — and possibly the White House — to gain.
The establishment pushed all its chips to the middle of the table with the Biden-Harris 2024 switcheroo. Alas, they rolled snake eyes. Yesterday, Schumer spent his final IOU to avoid being blamed for a shutdown. He’s all out of money and all out of cards.
Now, it’s AOC’s turn at the table.
One Last Thing: The Democrats are on the ropes, but the donkeys are still dangerous. 2025 will either go down in history as the year we finally Made America Great Again — or the year it all slipped through our fingers. We need your help to succeed! As a VIP Gold member, you have exclusive access to all TownHall sites: More stories, more videos, more content, more fun, more conservatism, more EVERYTHING! And if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code FIGHT you’ll receive a Trumpian 60% discount!
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