Douglas Schoen: Nobody won the shutdown, but Republicans lost

With the longest government shutdown in U.S. history officially over, it increasingly appears that, while there were no clear winners, the big losers were President Trump and Republicans.

Indeed, despite the intra-party fighting among Democrats, Republicans failed to present any alternative to the ACA subsidies they wanted to expire, publicly opposed feeding needy Americans, and were content to let healthcare premiums skyrocket.

Even though Democrats are weakened by divisions between progressives and moderates, it is hard to see how Republicans’ actions before and during the 43-day shutdown do not work to Democrats’ advantage.

To be sure, polling data consistently reflected that Democrats were more aligned with voters’ sentiment and attitudes.

Tracking polls from Navigator Research, co