Don’t Lose The Fights You Pick

Breaking news cascades at a breakneck pace in this interminable 24-hours news cycle. Scandals come and go in the blink of an eye. Political careers are ended left, right, and center. The global order seems to teeter on the edge of catastrophe. As engaged citizens, one must take the time to filter, analyze, and contextualize the state of politics in Washington in order to avoid getting dragged into prevalent alarmist rhetoric. Social media, cable news, and polarized media feed off of populist instincts and ideological echo-chambers. It is all too easy to steep in whichever interpretation of current events is à la mode in one’s political circles, whether that be that Democrats hijacked the government or that Trump’s tirade caused the recent government shutdown.

I take this opportunity to pause and reflect on the government shutdown that, by the time you are reading this, will already be a distant memory. Both sides of the aisle were quick to denounce the other party, spinning their series of events in hope of maintaining face despite Washington’s failure to function. Both Republicans and Democrats hoped to win the “blame game,” turning popular sentiment against the opposing party for allowing the shutdown. Only one party, however, is responsible for the shutdown. Any thoughtful analysis of the events leading up to the shutdown reveals that Democrats managed to lose a shutdown for which they themselves are responsible.

This may be surprising to readers who exist primarily within a liberal ecosystem. The most common defense of Democrats is, “How can we be to blame? After all, the Republicans are in control of all three branches of government.” This argument is convincing on the surface, but quickly disintegrates upon further analysis: firstly, that the judiciary leans to the right is not to be conflated with being “controlled by Republicans.” Republicanism is a party and conservatism is an ideology. They are not interchangeable, especially not in the age of Trump. Secondly, that the executive is currently in Republican control does not excuse the legislature from fulfilling its obligations and keeping the government afloat. It is Congress’ job to pass budgeting legislation, not Donald Trump’s. The president’s inflammatory rhetoric does not excuse Congress of its responsibilities or justify an abandonment of bipartisan dialogue. Thirdly, Republicans currently hold a majority in the Senate with 51 seats. The stopgap legislation in question, however, requires 60 votes to pass. Cooperation is necessary. To criticize Republicans for not passing this budget single-handedly undermines the importance of bipartisanship, incentivizes party-line voting, and discourages cross-aisle collaboration.

Democrats are responsible for the shutdown because they initially voted against legislation that they actually supported. Democrats had no qualm with any clause of the bill; this is evidenced by the fact that Democrats capitulated and voted in favor of an unchanged bill. There was nothing objectionable within the budget proposition. Since the original legislation had nothing disagreeable to Democrats, why did they allow the government shutdown?

Senate Democrats were willing to use the government budget as a bargaining chip in the ongoing immigration debate, since there is an innate bias against Republicans during—and after—a shutdown. After all, Republicans are in favor of less government. A shutdown seems contrary to Democratic principles of big-government, so they could afford such a destructive risk since the Republicans will take the initial blame. This “strawrepublican” aside, the Democrats knew that anti-Republican bias in shutdowns and Trump’s thoughtless comments
would grant them a small window to push an immigration agenda by holding the government hostage. After all, most Americans do support DACA and are interested in immigration reform. At the same time, a disproportionate majority of Americans value a functioning government (which effects everyone) more than DACA funding (which only effects about 0.2 percent of individuals in the U.S.).

Although post-shutdown polls indicate that Democrats dodged the brunt of the blame for this debacle, it is unclear how the shutdown will play out in the upcoming midterm elections. The Democrats have founded their 2018 midterm strategy on unstable ground. They are primarily running on anti-Trump platforms, but platforms founded on opposition come with an expiration date. Momentum of such movements quickly dissipates without continuous force. Instead of proposing positive policy solutions to pressing problems, Democrats stoke fervor against Trump and the Republicans that allowed his rise to power. They squabble over identity politics rather than addressing practical issues or the ideological rifts in the party. The left continues to move further left, straining the entire political spectrum. If there truly is a “blue wave” coming in the 2018 midterms, the new Democratic majority may soon find itself at the helm of a ship that it is responsible for sinking.

Daniel Smits ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at danielsmits@wustl.edu.