“Shutdown” Politics
2nd January 2019
“House to test Trump on wall.” So reads the headline (paper edition) of the lead story in today’s Washington Post.
The statement is true. However, it’s also true that Trump will test the new House. I think the test he poses might be the stiffer one.
The Democrats have a constituency — government workers — that will clamor for an end to the shutdown. Trump has no such constituency. Not as long as the partial shutdown is managed well enough to prevent ordinary folks from experiencing pain or significant inconvenience.
But the more salient point is that Trump probably has more flexibility than Nancy Pelosi.
Trump is going to play these toads like a cheap guitar. I’m looking forward to it.