What Were Democrats Thinking?

The podcast opens with Dan Barry of The New York Times emphasizing the paper's mission of fact-driven reporting. Ezra Klein then analyzes a recent government shutdown, noting that despite historical warnings against the opposition party winning such a fight, Democrats initially appeared to be gaining public support, with polls blaming Republicans and President Trump's approval rating falling. However, a group of Democrats broke ranks to negotiate a deal that offered minimal concessions, primarily increased funding for food assistance and back pay for federal workers, but failed to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, which were the ostensible reason for the shutdown. Klein argues that the shutdown was less about the subsidies and more about resisting Trump's perceived authoritarianism, highlighting the internal divisions within the Democratic caucus regarding the shutdown's purpose and strategy. He also discusses the inverted political logic, where a Democratic "win" on healthcare subsidies might have solved a political problem for Republicans, and concludes by expressing concern that Democrats may have taught Trump they will fold under pressure, though he acknowledges that Democrats ended the skirmish in a better position politically.