Sure are a lot of folks here and there looking to divide Democrats over the shutdown deal
I caught Politico this morning spreading the talking point that differences over the shutdown deal will threaten Dems' chances in the midterms. I heard David Frum, the wannabe, faux resistance fighter republican settling back into his disruptor mode with crocodile tears about the effect of the compromise on support from the 'left' in November.
Of course, this is all just wishful thinking from folks who've been stewing in their juices, waiting for the smoke to clear a bit on Trump to start spreading their self-fulfilling prophesies about the disarray and demise of Democrats.
Anyone using the Senate Dems response to the shutdown as a rallying point against the party, or moaning about lost liberal votes in November because of the compromise is either uninformed about the political process, or being deliberately obtuse about the state of political affairs.
There was no DACA bill to be voted on yesterday, just proposals. There was zero commitment from the republican leadership for any legislative process that would extend the protections Pres. Obama provided Dreamers.
What encouraged some Democrats to vote for the extension was the stated 'intention' of the Senate majority leader to allow the process of crafting and presenting a bill with renewed protections from deportation for children of undocumented immigrants to move forward. That's why some Dems (just as concerned about Dreamers as we are) voted to grant the three-week govt. funding extension.
There's no guarantee that any particular bill will be allowed to move forward, but what also encouraged some Dem legislators was the bipartisan working-group of at least 25 senators which organized to not only force the issue, but to begin the work of coming up with a bill that will pass the Senate, with an eye to the House.
This is what progress looks like with republicans in charge. Democrats don't have enough votes to force anything through the Senate, much less, the power to bring legislation to the floor for a vote. What they have in this compromise is a promise to allow regular order on a DACA fix.
It remains to be seen if the republican leadership bucks this very high-profile promise and gums up the process for producing and voting on a legislative fix, but there's a good chance this will be allowed to play out.
Public sentiment is overwhelmingly behind finding a way for Dreamers to remain in the country. It's also an issue which interests employers benefiting from their labor, and there is increasing pressure from business groups aligned with republicans to find a solution. Then there's the bipartisan support for a bill which is already engaged.
There are going to be objectionable proposals attached to any fix. Until Congress and the Senate changes, any DACA bill will need more than Democratic votes for passage. That means that republicans are going to exact a pound of flesh for this, unless there's some miracle of leadership.
That doesn't make Democrats pursuing this compromise bad legislators - they're just legislators charged with a nearly impossible task of working with a duplicitous party which has a narcissistic megalomaniac as it's leader in the WH, and a John Birch republican running the Senate.
Besides, I haven't seen anything yet from critics that would indicate they have a clue how to navigate these political waters with any more substance and effect - their arguments mostly just protest for protest sake.
I think the best Democrats can do right now is hold republicans' feet to the fire; hold them to their promises and call them out loudly when they renege. The best Democrats can do, until we produce a majority again, is to stay engaged; both in the political process in Congress and in the election process at home. That's where Senate Democrats stand today. That's where we should stand, as well.
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Last week, they greased the wheel with CHIP.
We showed THEM what we can do when the wheel ain't greased!
What will they give us Feb. 8? 
