Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suffered from hubris and short-term memory loss when he decided to forge ahead with a shutdown of the government, Karl Rove wrote in a column for The Wall Street Journal.
"Mr. Schumer should have remembered that, at least in the short run, whoever causes a shutdown loses," Rove wrote.
Schumer had a front-row seat for the last time this movie played in 2013 on the other side of the aisle: Sen. Ted Cruz came, he shut down, he had no strategy, he blinked, Republicans took a beating.
"Then as now, most voters don't think there's ever a good reason to shut down Washington, even if they agree with the policy it is supposed to achieve," Rove wrote.
So now, Schumer's Shutdown will live in infamy as he takes his beating — from both sides.
"Democrats were in fact neither united nor in possession of a strategy to back up the threat," Rove wrote in the WSJ. "Now the anger among progressives at Mr. Schumer for giving in may boost left-wingers in House primaries, making it more difficult for Democrats to win swing districts in November."
Democrats are on the right side of the issue, Rove wrote, citing sundry polls, but the wrong side of the tactic.
Now Democrats and Republicans have until Feb. 8 to get it figured out — again.
"Most Americans seek compromise and resolution, but a substantial minority of each party's base wants purism. Both sides can get some of what they want on immigration — a Dreamer fix for Democrats, more border security for Republicans — only if they don't insist on getting everything," Rove writes.
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