It's simple. Most Americans don't want chaos. And they know Republicans run Washington

[Tom Rinaldo]

On this or that stand Democrats may take, they may or may not win polling on that issue at the time, but the big picture is constant. The more chaos, the more unsettling changes, the more stress that Americans experience during the Trump regime, the more Americans become upset with it. That is true of the shutdown regardless of who most may blame for it after it finally ends. The Republican brand is Chaos. The Republican brand is uncertainty. The Republican brand is turbulence in our daily lives. Few beyond fanatics want that, but Republicans are seen as embracing it.

It is the Meta message that underlies everything else. And Republicans will pay in November if Democrats are resolute in not making the path forward for them easy in the interim.

[kerouac2]

1. His first term was chaos

He and they are chaos. Their people don't give a crap about chaos.

[walkingman]

2. I honestly think that is their intent. The more chaos the more the attention they get.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. Sure, and his people are in the distinct minority.

Trump lost the 2000 election when the memory of that chaos was freshest.

[flvegan]

4. 77 million Americans voted for chaos. 89 million

couldn't be bothered either way, and just willingly accepted that chaos could, and would happen.

What is it you were saying again? It would seem that either Americans DO want chaos, or they don't but are too stupid to avoid it.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Trump Part II is far more chaotic than even Trump Part I was

Republicans lost the midterms under Trump Part I. By the time 2020 came around too many Americans were lulled into complacency again, and the bad memories of the Trump years were largely blotted out by Covid pandemic PTSD

[gulliver]

6. Some Americans do want chaos

Or, at least they think they do. I think the Democratic Party, and, in fact, both parties should be united against chaos. It doesn't help anyone. And the people that it hurts are always the people who can least afford it.

I really don't see our leverage in this situation. I know that a lot of folks think that the elimination of the Obamacare premium tax credits in the BBB will "make people see that Republicans have screwed them over."

But no, I don't think it will work out that way. It's premature. In my opinion, we should have started kicking and screaming about that closer to the election next year.

Right now, fill in the blank with what Republicans will do with it. I'd elaborate but you can use your own imagination. (When I try to explain Republican chicanery, I get reported for explaining Republican chicanery!)

[betsuni]

7. They say they want change, shake things up from status quo establishment, then want change from the change.