they tried SOMETHING!

Last edited Mon Jan 22, 2018, 10:48 PM - Edit history (1)

...calling the fight a 'losing tactical decision.'

This is someone looking to put a wedge between Democrats.

Actually, on second thought football thinking does work here. The GOP wants it to be a Football Game because they can't win unless they've turned their "base" into unthinking, inconsiderate spectators, and they're doing their best to ensure that Politics has nothing to do with Governance and the wellbeing of the country, but with whomever gets more points, therefore...

In a football game, a good coach needs to implement a variety of tactics that can be used across several strategies to get to his/her goal - that one team has more points than the other team at the end of the game. The coach has to not only consider the strengths and weaknesses of his/her players and staff, but the players of the other team and the intelligence of the coaching staff across the field. The coach also has to consider the environment - is the noise of the stadium distracting or intimidating to the refs and the players, are they on home turf, or are they fighting against the home team advantage, are the Refs (the media) capable or are they on the field just to be out in the middle of the game and don't really care about calling the game unless a foul is obvious.

If the Refs are chicken-shit and the opposition has keeping you from gaining yards on a particular drive, it is actually often better to punt than throw a hail Mary or try a run on 4th down if you think you can get better field position - especially when they've only got a one-play offence and have a weak offensive line.

Look at it this way - we're punting, but we've a better defensive backfield than they do an offensive line. And their QB waffles. We just have to ensure the Refs - and all the other loudmouthed "Nattering Nabobs of Nationalistic Negativity" can't really call us on anything.

Haele

No one could really say the truth about why Democrats accepted this offer from McConnell: that it was the best they were going to get.

This shutdown was always going to be decided by the “blame game,” as annoying as that is to say. As each side made their arguments in recent days, Republicans had the more straightforward one—Democrats were responsible for the shutdown because they filibustered a funding bill in order to secure something else. A DACA fix is popular; shutting down the government over one is much less so, especially in many of the states Senate Democrats are trying to hold in November. The polling was beginning to gravitate in Republicans’ favor.

There is no compelling evidence that rejecting McConnell’s offer would have resulted in a better outcome for Democrats. Polling would have drifted further to Republicans’ side, and McConnell would have waited patiently to accept Schumer’s unconditional surrender. It is surprising that McConnell even offered a handshake agreement, and may have only done so to bring Flake and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham back on the team. Democrats chose to save face by accepting a less-than-“ironclad” commitment because that is what you do when you’ve made a losing tactical decision.



Note -- I know OP was limited to quotes and was not intentionally trying to obscure another side of the story.