I'm always amazed when Democrats are perceived to have won government shutdown battles of the past. And they've won all of them if my memory is correct, at least in the sense that Republicans have never gotten their way by shutting down the government by refusing to fund its operation.
Of course, no one really wins when the government shuts down. Everyone loses, but primarily federal employees who lose their source of income, which means they lose the ability to feed, clothe and house their families. Other big losers are the millions that directly depend on services provided by the federal government in order to survive, and all the rest of us who depend on the safety of the food we eat, the medicine we take, and the air we breathe.
The problem for Democrats in the shutdown battles is that they care about the suffering of all these people and Republicans don't. A simplistic statement, I know, but true nevertheless. Oh, an individual Republican will care if they know a person who suffers because a federal program ceases to operate, but in addition to not caring about anyone they don't know personally, Republicans possess the ability to rationalize away facts they find unpleasant. So, for them, any suffering endured by them, their friends or family, is the fault of Democrats, even if clearly the fault of Republicans.
Democrats lack this ability to twist reality into the form they wish it to be, and are at an even greater disadvantage by caring about the millions of fellow Americans who suffer during a shutdown. The primal impulse for Democrats is to alleviate suffering if they can, while Republicans, recognizing and scorning this Democratic characteristic, are only too happy to use it against them.
In a hostage situation, which is how Republicans view shutdowns, the negotiating party at the greatest disadvantage is the one that cares about the hostages the most. Democrats suffer along with the victims; Republicans gloat at their suffering.
Given this Democratic disadvantage, it's a wonder that Republicans don't get their way every time there is a shutdown. The only reason they don't is that their objectives are always odious to a majority of Americans, such as taking away affordable health care, or building a thirty foot wall along the southern border.
It is a measure of just how corrupt and venal the Republican party is that they cannot get their way during shutdowns given the huge negotiating advantage they have. So, while things look bleak, I guess there's that.
There are no morals more relative than conservative morals, and no hypocrisy quite like conservative hypocrisy.
