The president is still riding on global goodwill for the release of hostages from Hamas. On stage in Egypt, the president of Pakistan praised President Donald Trump for bringing peace to what could have become a nuclear war between Pakistan and India. The Israeli people love him more than they do their own leaders. But here at home, Democrats have kept voting to keep the government shut down.
Democrats, however, have been careful with their battle. Trump has moved defense funding around to make sure the military gets paid this week. He will not be able to keep doing it, but for now, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will get paid. Democrats are publicly protesting that this is unconstitutional. None of them are, so far, willing to fight the president on it. Democrats are refusing to vote for the same continuing resolution authored by and submitted by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer just last year. The resolution is the same, and Democrats are now killing what they themselves wrote last year.
Therein lies the problem for the Democrats. They want credit for fighting Trump and shutting down the government, but they don't want any blame for shutting down the government. On Wednesday, the 15th day of the government shutdown, neither the New York Times, the Washington Post, nor the Wall Street Journal had a front-page story about the shutdown. If the press could praise the Democrats, they undoubtedly would. But at this point, few Americans are feeling the effects of the shutdown. Social security checks are going out, the military is getting paid, passports are being issued and life goes on.
Eventually, Democrats will vote to reopen the government. As the president becomes increasingly empowered to fire federal employees, gut programs that make up core Democratic initiatives, and cancel federal projects in Democratic districts, the pain will keep growing for Democrats. If Republicans give them nothing, we can all wonder what the fight was over when the government goes back to work with Democrat votes. The only thing sure is that the government will reopen.
When it does, and Democrats have gotten no up-front concessions (they will get some changes on healthcare), their base will be furious. They were smart not to fight on the issue of military funding and sue to stop payment. But here they must fight. Their base demands it. On Saturday, progressive activists are headed to Washington for a "No Kings" protest funded by leftwing billionaires who have helped move the party further left. Fight they must, but they will cave eventually because, also, they must.
Should the Republicans be smart and offer nothing to the Democrats, when the government reopens, the base of the Democratic Party will savage the Democrats. The billionaire progressives, using their clout, will work to push the party further left because, to them, Trump is Hitler. Reopening the government allows Hitler to keep Hitlering. It is more than a bit humorous that the Democrats think the man who just freed Israeli hostages is the second coming of Hitler, but this is where the Democratic Party is.
For those on the right who think we should be cautious in provoking a fight within the Democratic Party, they should remember that black and Hispanic voters have moved right as the left has more vocally embraced socialism. Pushing the Democrats further left certainly risks even more violence from the left, but also opens the door to the Republicans for a larger share of the public. The public may not care for Trump, but they positively despise the left and the Democratic Party's drift to the left.
As several internet jokesters pointed out, a year ago, Trump was slinging fries at McDonald's and driving a garbage truck. This week, he negotiated peace in the Middle East, found a way to pay the military despite a government shutdown, but has yet to convince Chuck Schumer to release the American people as the Democrats' hostages. By contrast, the Democrats seem small and insignificant and life goes on with President Trump as a singular, dominant force, and Democrats are unsure of which fights to pick.