The game has been an INTfest.

That and the finale was full of “the music will tell you how you should feel about the scene” instead of the, you know, writing and acting cluing you in.

I culled a while back and still have a ridiculous number. I remain ready.

It has become an expensive soap opera.

It was the first thing I thought of when I saw your post--we have all been The Dingus.

I mean, is it even political “analysis” if it isn’t horse race analysis?

This is like insisting your team would have won the game if it had tried a 99-yard FG. You can insist all day long that it would have worked, but it doesn't change the fact that it can't happen save in some fantasy.

There is absolutely no way to force the GOP to restore the subsidies. I am not saying that it is an unworthy goal, but the reality is that a minority party cannot force the majority in the Senate and House (not to mention the President) to pass and sign legislation they oppose.

Serious question: what was the shutdown stopping Trump from doing?

I honestly think the Ds would have done well regardless, but I am open to the argument it helped with margins in VA. Still, that moment is over and so that has little to do with the vote to reopen now.

How is the minority party going to force the majority into that outcome?

But I don’t think the Democrats in the Senate have made any case that they see it as a fight over the regime (nor do I think they see it that way). Again: I wanted them to do so, but they didn’t so I don’t see how this can be assessed as a fight over the regime.

But the Dems never made this fight about fighting autocracy (and I wish they had and argued such back on 10/1). They made it about ACA subsidies and it has become to be about SNAP, ATCs, and gov’t employees. I am not sure what other endpoint was possible than something just like this.

Sincere question: what do you think the Dems could have wrung out of the Reps? While I think the Dems emerge from this shutdown better than I expected, PR-wise, I just can’t see a minority party getting major legislative concessions.