Thanks for writing this. I've been posting similar things that people were overreacting, usually resulting in people angrily posting in response.
They made a few mistakes, but ending the shutdown I think was the right decision. The mistakes I think they made were:
1. They were, I think, telegraphing they would end it while offering stronger deals to Thune. There was no reason for Thune to take those deals if he knew we were going to end the shutdown. It was performative. We were never going to get something for ACA if Thune knew we were going to end it.
2. They needed to prepare people and message better about ending suffering. Along with starving people, the shutdown could've possibly lead to an airline crash.
3. We needed to, before ending the shutdown, frame better the fact that Republicans have no problem causing pain and suffering, and that Democrats are different. We've done it after the fact, which is great. The point needed to be more effectively made before we accepted their deal.
There are two aspects that matter. Impacts on peoples' lives, which always need to be taken seriously. The other is the long-term politics. We could've done a better job of messaging, but people will, I think, firmly be able to identify who caused their health-care costs to rise, or caused their local hospital to shutdown, or made it impossible to get coverage. Also, who was willing to starve people because they don't care.
So we protected people from harm, and I think are still in a stronger long-term political position.
The argument "you need to stand up to bullies and autocrats" is valid. But this is different from Trump and the GOP violating Constitutional rights and the law. In those cases, we need to fight harder. The budget problems are political dysfunction and lack of empathy by them -- disastrous policy that will hurt people, but not an autocratic takeover. It is different from illegal ICE raids, killing people in boats, and using the DOJ to attack political enemies and reward or protect allies. In these illiberal things they are doing, we need to never ever give an inch.
The shutdown fight was just different.
We really do need to stop the self-flagellation and move forward. It is self-defeating, and misses the point that we are stronger politically after the election. Grijalva is sworn in. Trump is in deep political trouble because of Epstein. And we need to be fighting harder against the war he is likely to launch against Venezuela.
I realize that the title of this substack is in essence true but the manner in which it was done whether by revolt or behind scenes calculation, it was a communications disaster. If they would have had a presser with Schumer saying that it was apparent the trump was fine with starving Americans to make a political point and that the Ds would need to provide relief for the nation and to regroup the fight, then have most of the Democrat Senators vote to reopen it would have gone down more palatably and not created so much momentum damage. In this I think Schumer must be replaced at a minimum. I still feel that stripping the eight of their perks is in order as well.
Their suffering is the only thing that would bring the people out onto the streets in a general strike that would shut the country down and overthrow the criminally corrupt Trump autocracy. That should have been the goal of the government shutdown. As it is, the Democrats who caved are responsible for the continued funding of Trump's criminal enterprise and its assault on our democratic institutions. There is no apologia.
The Dems definitely should have led with messaging. They would have appeared strong and strategic instead of weak and feckless. That's on the shoulders of Schumer and Jeffries who have displayed poor leadership.
Dan, those of us in marketing/advertising frustrated for 10 long years. Dems ability to concisely message against Trump and MAGA has been poorly executed, if at all.
I appreciate this perspective. We must reframe, and constantly remind ourselves of what the goals going forward are. The past is completely unalterable, but we have the present, and that affects the future. This is not over--not by a long shot. We won't be erecting statues to honor the 7 Dems and Angus King, but we don't need to tar and feather them, either. There are many battles to be fought and won, so let's keep our chins up.
Excellent Dem talking points! But don't forget that Trump also shut down the govt to protect his pedophile friends. So Scrooge McTrump not only takes food and healthcare from needy families during Thanksgiving, he's also puts their kids at risk from predators.
Thank you! This is what I have been thinking and saying, but without the platform to make a difference. This is the message we all need to hear before we eat ourselves alive. (One of our unfortunate skills.)
I just think they, once again, botched the messaging. Schumer excels at that. Explaining that Dems wanted to feed starving kids isn’t a loser. Only someone as arrogant as Schumer could bumble that. But … onward. We know who needs replacing.
Going into high dudgeon when the Cave began, I’ve come to see this side and think it will be much to our advantage during the next several months — if the naysayers can quit their bitchin’ for a while and wise up. (imho)
And let’s not forget that the Republicans would like nothing more than to see the Democrats tear ourselves to pieces. So let’s unify and take what we can from this moment. While many may disagree there was an argument to be made for ending the shutdown. Democrats need to broadcast that we are the ones to care about the American people and not get stuck in an argument over a strategy.
I too reacted to the “cave” as a WTF moment. But with some time to think, I have come to the same conclusion as the author. What is so hard for people-not-Trump (and his Republican accessories) to imagine is that they simply do not care if people go hungry and without health care. That is why we took so long to see this Repub shutdown for what it was.
You are absolutely right that Democrats can’t turn on each other over this. But the way Schumer and the senate leadership did it sure opened the door to enrage the base. Poor to nonexistent messaging (having independent angus king doing a lot of the talking sure didn’t help). Obvious disingenuousness from Schumer who cooked the play up while pretending he didn’t. Someone has to take the blame for the clear mishandling of this and that person is Schumer. You want to keep the party united and focused on winning elections? First and necessary step: failed leadership must step down.
A few bracketed [ ] remarks on your article, which I largely agree with:
“I do, though, strongly (as Trump likes to say to hide his weakness) agree with Jay Kuo that if a group of Democrats was “going to move to end the shutdown, they needed to lead with messaging, not explain themselves after the fact.” [Leading requires leaders up to the challenge!]
“Trump and Republicans shut down the government for the purpose of assuring that the massive cuts to health insurance subsidies they made in their One Big Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill—we are all going to call it what it is …” [Even Chucky Schumer who seems to love billionaires? ~ I believe this is at the core of the Dems one big ugly problem.]
“Republicans don’t care about people suffering, going hungry, being unable to afford health insurance, or to fly home for Thanksgiving. Democrats do care.” [But…, imho, need leaders who reflect that fact!]
[Thank you for making it crystal clear that MESSAGING ALIGNED WITH YOUR CORE VALUES really matters in politics!]
My initial feeling was betrayal and anger. After sleeping on it and thinking about various posits on the topic, soon decided that there was more to it. The Democrats have repeatedly demonstrated love, care, and compassion for others and knew endless suffering was taking place as winter set in. There is more than one way to evict a snake. Also, by providing relief through pay restart, SNAP and WIC, the house had to reconvene. That led to Rep. Grijalva being seated, signing the discharge, and giving voice to her constituents. Of course, this led to the tranche of documents provided by the Epstein estate and forcing T 2.0 hand. So all was not lost. Lead on!
Thanks for writing this. I've been posting similar things that people were overreacting, usually resulting in people angrily posting in response.
They made a few mistakes, but ending the shutdown I think was the right decision. The mistakes I think they made were:
1. They were, I think, telegraphing they would end it while offering stronger deals to Thune. There was no reason for Thune to take those deals if he knew we were going to end the shutdown. It was performative. We were never going to get something for ACA if Thune knew we were going to end it.
2. They needed to prepare people and message better about ending suffering. Along with starving people, the shutdown could've possibly lead to an airline crash.
3. We needed to, before ending the shutdown, frame better the fact that Republicans have no problem causing pain and suffering, and that Democrats are different. We've done it after the fact, which is great. The point needed to be more effectively made before we accepted their deal.
There are two aspects that matter. Impacts on peoples' lives, which always need to be taken seriously. The other is the long-term politics. We could've done a better job of messaging, but people will, I think, firmly be able to identify who caused their health-care costs to rise, or caused their local hospital to shutdown, or made it impossible to get coverage. Also, who was willing to starve people because they don't care.
So we protected people from harm, and I think are still in a stronger long-term political position.
The argument "you need to stand up to bullies and autocrats" is valid. But this is different from Trump and the GOP violating Constitutional rights and the law. In those cases, we need to fight harder. The budget problems are political dysfunction and lack of empathy by them -- disastrous policy that will hurt people, but not an autocratic takeover. It is different from illegal ICE raids, killing people in boats, and using the DOJ to attack political enemies and reward or protect allies. In these illiberal things they are doing, we need to never ever give an inch.
The shutdown fight was just different.
We really do need to stop the self-flagellation and move forward. It is self-defeating, and misses the point that we are stronger politically after the election. Grijalva is sworn in. Trump is in deep political trouble because of Epstein. And we need to be fighting harder against the war he is likely to launch against Venezuela.
I realize that the title of this substack is in essence true but the manner in which it was done whether by revolt or behind scenes calculation, it was a communications disaster. If they would have had a presser with Schumer saying that it was apparent the trump was fine with starving Americans to make a political point and that the Ds would need to provide relief for the nation and to regroup the fight, then have most of the Democrat Senators vote to reopen it would have gone down more palatably and not created so much momentum damage. In this I think Schumer must be replaced at a minimum. I still feel that stripping the eight of their perks is in order as well.
Their suffering is the only thing that would bring the people out onto the streets in a general strike that would shut the country down and overthrow the criminally corrupt Trump autocracy. That should have been the goal of the government shutdown. As it is, the Democrats who caved are responsible for the continued funding of Trump's criminal enterprise and its assault on our democratic institutions. There is no apologia.
The Dems definitely should have led with messaging. They would have appeared strong and strategic instead of weak and feckless. That's on the shoulders of Schumer and Jeffries who have displayed poor leadership.
Dan, those of us in marketing/advertising frustrated for 10 long years. Dems ability to concisely message against Trump and MAGA has been poorly executed, if at all.
I appreciate this perspective. We must reframe, and constantly remind ourselves of what the goals going forward are. The past is completely unalterable, but we have the present, and that affects the future. This is not over--not by a long shot. We won't be erecting statues to honor the 7 Dems and Angus King, but we don't need to tar and feather them, either. There are many battles to be fought and won, so let's keep our chins up.
The GOP would like to thank Donald Trump for making it okay to starve Americans to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.
Excellent Dem talking points! But don't forget that Trump also shut down the govt to protect his pedophile friends. So Scrooge McTrump not only takes food and healthcare from needy families during Thanksgiving, he's also puts their kids at risk from predators.
Thank you! This is what I have been thinking and saying, but without the platform to make a difference. This is the message we all need to hear before we eat ourselves alive. (One of our unfortunate skills.)
I just think they, once again, botched the messaging. Schumer excels at that. Explaining that Dems wanted to feed starving kids isn’t a loser. Only someone as arrogant as Schumer could bumble that. But … onward. We know who needs replacing.
Going into high dudgeon when the Cave began, I’ve come to see this side and think it will be much to our advantage during the next several months — if the naysayers can quit their bitchin’ for a while and wise up. (imho)
And let’s not forget that the Republicans would like nothing more than to see the Democrats tear ourselves to pieces. So let’s unify and take what we can from this moment. While many may disagree there was an argument to be made for ending the shutdown. Democrats need to broadcast that we are the ones to care about the American people and not get stuck in an argument over a strategy.
I too reacted to the “cave” as a WTF moment. But with some time to think, I have come to the same conclusion as the author. What is so hard for people-not-Trump (and his Republican accessories) to imagine is that they simply do not care if people go hungry and without health care. That is why we took so long to see this Repub shutdown for what it was.
You are absolutely right that Democrats can’t turn on each other over this. But the way Schumer and the senate leadership did it sure opened the door to enrage the base. Poor to nonexistent messaging (having independent angus king doing a lot of the talking sure didn’t help). Obvious disingenuousness from Schumer who cooked the play up while pretending he didn’t. Someone has to take the blame for the clear mishandling of this and that person is Schumer. You want to keep the party united and focused on winning elections? First and necessary step: failed leadership must step down.
A few bracketed [ ] remarks on your article, which I largely agree with:
“I do, though, strongly (as Trump likes to say to hide his weakness) agree with Jay Kuo that if a group of Democrats was “going to move to end the shutdown, they needed to lead with messaging, not explain themselves after the fact.” [Leading requires leaders up to the challenge!]
“Trump and Republicans shut down the government for the purpose of assuring that the massive cuts to health insurance subsidies they made in their One Big Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill—we are all going to call it what it is …” [Even Chucky Schumer who seems to love billionaires? ~ I believe this is at the core of the Dems one big ugly problem.]
“Republicans don’t care about people suffering, going hungry, being unable to afford health insurance, or to fly home for Thanksgiving. Democrats do care.” [But…, imho, need leaders who reflect that fact!]
[Thank you for making it crystal clear that MESSAGING ALIGNED WITH YOUR CORE VALUES really matters in politics!]
My initial feeling was betrayal and anger. After sleeping on it and thinking about various posits on the topic, soon decided that there was more to it. The Democrats have repeatedly demonstrated love, care, and compassion for others and knew endless suffering was taking place as winter set in. There is more than one way to evict a snake. Also, by providing relief through pay restart, SNAP and WIC, the house had to reconvene. That led to Rep. Grijalva being seated, signing the discharge, and giving voice to her constituents. Of course, this led to the tranche of documents provided by the Epstein estate and forcing T 2.0 hand. So all was not lost. Lead on!
I forgot to make that important point in my comment above. The House had to go back to work. They—and Trump—didn’t want that.
I completely agree.