Cowardly caving? Three-dimensional chess?

Or could there be a third way to understand the events of the last 40 days?

Last night, a small group of supposedly “moderate” Dems in the Senate voted with Repubs to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government and end the shutdown.

The deal was almost universally described as caving, capitulation, and cowardly. Multiple pundits and news outlets said that Dems got nothing in return, which isn’t completely true. They did not, though, get what they had been demanding: an extension of the ACA subsidies.

Before I get to what I think of this “deal,” let’s look at the details.

• The Dems that broke ranks were Sens. Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
• The CR funds the government only until January 30.
• It reverses federal employee layoffs, and prevents new ones until January 30.
• It includes a floor vote on extending the ACA subsidies, and the vote must happen before the end of the year. Does not include any sort of guarantee that the extension would pass, or that the House would even bring it to a vote.
• It does not require the Trump administration to actually spend money that has been appropriated.
• And, many House Dems already announced they would be a “no vote” if the bill came to the House. Their votes probably wouldn’t be needed, though, as the Repubs in the House can pass the deal themselves.

My first thought upon hearing of this so-called “deal” is that, once again, the Democratic Party rolled over. They gave Trump and the Repubs what they wanted, and basically got nothing in return.

Dems were winning the shutdown fight in the court of public opinion, as poll after poll showed. The message was getting through that the Repubs were responsible for both people going hungry and the crazy increases in health insurance premiums. Add to that the results of Tuesday’s elections, and the capitulation of those eight Dems looks even more nuts. Why make a deal when you are doing real damage to the other side’s reputation and electoral chances?

A few folks are trying to find some larger strategy, some plan for three-dimensional chess in all this. Could the Senate Dems be wanting to force a vote on healthcare costs just as the price increases are hitting? Maybe they are trying to force Mike Johnson to call the House back into session to pass the modified continuing resolution — which means he’ll have to seat newly-elected Adelita Grijalva from Arizona and face a discharge petition on the Epstein files?

Well, perhaps. But from where I sit, the most likely explanation is the most obvious: these eight Dems see themselves as the “reasonable ones,” the “adults in the room” who can put the good of the country over the needs of the party.

And if that is the case, let’s be clear: they’re wrong. They aren’t the “adults in the room” — they’re myopic strategists who gave up long-term gain to avoid short-term pain.

Because this wasn’t about the “party winning” — this was about standing up to Trump and his minions and showing how to fight. This was about using whatever power you have as strategically as possible. And they gave up that fight.

Interestingly, Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo is actually somewhat encouraged by the overall storyline. He writes:

There was a legitimate party rebellion after the March debacle. Democratic voters demanded fight. When the time came, Democrats fought. They held out for 40 days, the longest shutdown standoff in history. They put health care at the center of the national political conversation and inflicted a lot of damage on Trump. … That’s a sea change in how the party functions in Congress. And that’s a big deal.

He goes on to say that if there are Dems who don’t understand the moment we are in and the need for using whatever power we have, then they need to go. And why? Because of this:

We’re in a battle for at least the rest of this decade that will require a very different kind of Democratic Party — not one that is more right or left but one that is both comfortable using power and knows how to do it. So I’m going to take this big step in the right direction I’ve seen over the last month and pocket it and move on to the next battle. Meanwhile, keep purging all the folks who can’t get with the new program.

Yes, it’s a glass-two-thirds-full viewpoint. But I think it’s possible, and accurate, for two things to both be true:

• Those eight Dems caved, for no good reason.
• But, Dems showed more fight and strategic, principled thinking than they have in years. And that’s a good thing.

So, no three-dimensional chess. A move by eight Dems that was a disaster in both strategy and optics. A momentary win for Trump and the Republicans.

But maybe, just maybe, some Dems have found a spine. And if so, that would be a good thing. Let’s hope more and more of them understand the moment we are in, and let that understanding guide their use of what power they have.

Because in the end, caving just can’t be an option.

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