Conventional political wisdom says that Republicans always get blamed for a shutdown. And in this case, Democrats want Republican President Donald Trump to get the blame as we head toward the midterm elections.
BUT...are factors different THIS time? Or is that wishful Republican thinking.
Consider how the coastal media is reporting on the shutdown:
Senate Democrats appear to have derailed a Republican bill aimed at preventing a federal shutdown set to begin as soon as the calendar flips to Saturday.
"Democrats largely unified to use the shutdown deadline to force concessions on numerous issues — including protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants."
CNN's headline: "Why Democrats may be making the wrong bet on shutdown."
A majority of Americans, 56%, said approving a budget to avoid a government shutdown was more important for Congress to do than passing a bill to maintain the DACA program. Only one in three Americans, 34%, said they prioritized a DACA fix over avoiding a shutdown.
There are three reasons that this shutdown may backfire on the Democrats:
1. People elected President Trump to be a fighter and
2. He's fighting on his strongest issue - immigration
3. This allows conservatives to demonize Chuck Schumer - a strategy the GOP plans to use in the fall (I'll expand on this on Monday's radio show).
I actually believe this shutdown does not help the Democrats and I offer this evidence - Democrats who face tough elections in states that President Trump won voted NOT to shut the government down.