Concern Trolling

The Washington Post has two excellent examples of concern trolling on it's Op-Ed page.  Two Republicans express their I'm-sure-is-legit concern that Democrats will get tarred by the government shutdown.  The idea that the minority party will be blamed for a failure of governance assumes a level of civic engagement that simply doesn't exist. 

Americans know that Republicans control the Congress and the White House.  One of Mitch McConnell's insights was the fact that probably 95% of Americans are ignorant of the way legislation works its way through Congress.  They are unfamiliar with cloture and holds and the idea that 60 votes are required to pass anything in the Senate these days.  The even less informed simply blame the White House for everything.

Democrats are holding out for a popular and reasonable demand: protection for DREAMers.  That's it.  You want a bipartisan deal?  There it is.  If Republicans won't pass it, they will get the blame for the shutdown.  Shutdowns are already "on-brand" for the GOP, too, so that will help cement blame.

Of course, if we know anything about Democrats, it is that they will cave under pressure from the Bipartisan Fairy.  Like Charlie Brown, they will continue to run up to the football that Lucy holds out there so tantalizingly.  Maybe they've learned. 

We will see tonight.