Democrats say they had no choice. After eight months of getting flattened by Trump on policy and programs at home and abroad with no sound counter message, they couldn’t just roll over again. (Well, maybe they could have. But they didn’t!) I wasn’t sure they picked the right fight. I thought shutting down the government would hand the president another opportunity to fire thousands more federal workers and dismantle agencies he doesn’t like. But I’ve come around.

All it took was a chance encounter at a Starbucks with a Democratic senator who heard me out when I voiced my concern. “It had to be about something,” he said emphatically, “We made it about something, which is health care, our strongest suit.”

The current impasse is on the surface over Democrats’ demands to extend Obamacare sub

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