Rather rudely, however, the Washington Free Beacon's Matthew Continetti has made himself the pooper at the party by injecting a sobering dose of reality into the midst of the Democrats' merriment.
To alter the metaphor somewhat, he throws a wet blanket on the Democrats' exultations by reminding them that what lies ahead is almost certainly disappointment and disillusionment.
He concedes that there are some things they can do as the majority party in the House to make themselves a pesky nuisance for the president, but these irritations will not amount to much. Speaker Pelosi will soon find herself reduced to irrelevancy.
Here's why:
Yes, they can fire their subpoena cannon at the White House. They can interrogate cabinet officials, subpoena Jared and Ivanka, leak scoops to reporters, maybe force a cabinet official or two to resign, if any are left. When Mueller delivers his findings, they could begin impeachment proceedings. But impeachment, like progressive legislation, won't get far.In other words, like a boomerang launched to knock out of the air as many presidential initiatives as they can hit, the Democrats' policy of resistance and obstruction is likely to arc back and strike them squarely in the kisser.
A decade ago [When the Democrats last controlled the House and Nancy Pelosi was Speaker] the House could pass bills and hope that Harry Reid would persuade his Democratic Senate majority to support them. All Pelosi had to worry about was President Bush's veto. Now, Pelosi has to deal with Mitch McConnell's Republican Senate even before her policies reach Donald Trump.
Republican control of the Senate is but the first difference between the 116th and 110th Congresses. The second is within the Democratic Party itself. Not only must Pelosi balance the progressives against members from swing districts. She has to manage her comrades during a rowdy and unpredictable presidential primary.
Hillary fighting Obama was nothing compared to the coming rumble. Already Bernie is leaking against Beto, Warren is downing beers on Instagram, and someone reminded the New York Times of accusations of sexual harassment within Bernie's campaign. "We're headed for disaster," frets Michael Tomasky.
Very soon, news from the [campaign] trail will overtake the goings-on in Congress. House Democrats won't just have trouble changing laws. They also will have difficulty promoting their message. Especially considering the third and greatest difference between 2007 and 2019: the presence of Donald Trump.
There's no evidence that Pelosi has any better an idea of how to deal with him than her predecessors. Whenever Trump focuses his attention on reelection, and sets the agenda of cable news coverage by attacking his rivals on Twitter, Pelosi will be less than powerless. She will be irrelevant.
The partial government shutdown is a prelude to an unpredictable two years of conflict, deadlock, breakdown, acrimony, dissatisfaction, and annoyance. At the end, Democrats will be reminded that, thanks to congressional delegation of authority, the House doesn't count for much. What matters is the presidency. Ask the GOP.
That policy has surely drained the GOP of any desire to cooperate with the Democrats on anything, and it's therefore hard to think of any successes to which congressional Democrats can look forward as long as the GOP controls both the Senate and the Executive.
