OPINION:
Poor Democrats. They just aren’t used to being treated this way. They just aren’t used to the fight.
Look at how they’re having to rush to the defensive in recent days — first, with President Donald Trump in the White House, then with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, doing the media thing.
Anybody watching Sen. Chuck Schumer sit, shoulders sagged, hands in lap, stiff smile upon face, as he listened to Trump turn tables and take responsibility for a government shutdown so long as it came as a way of standing firm on border control for the American people — well, one would think all the Senate Minority Leader needed to complete the picture was a white flag to wave.
“Playing by His Own Rules, Trump Flips the Shutdown Script,” The New York Times blasted in a headline.
The New York Times. Even the left-leaning New York Times was forced to admit: Schumer’s cower on the couch just didn’t look good for the Democrats.
“The trick in Washington has always been to make sure a government shutdown is pinned on the other guy,” The New York Times piece read. “President Trump is the first to ever pin one on himself.”
And that’s the beauty of this president. He can turn lemonade into liquid gold, in the blink of an eye.
In case you missed it: Schumer, in a widely reported White House sit-down with Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, tried to pin negativity all over the president’s chest by claiming, in his best outraged voice, By gosh, Mr. President, you want to shut down the government if you don’t get your border funding way! And Trump, instead of ducking and dodging in fear, twisted and turned and said, essentially, Dang right I do.
Trump then went on to make the case that he felt so strongly about protecting the American people from enemies, both foreign and domestic, who would use the border for nefarious means, that he would even shut down the government to make Democrats listen — to force Democrats to protect the people, too.
“The moment was a little reminiscent of the climactic scene in ’A Few Good Men,’ when Tom Cruise’s character elicits an incriminating answer from Jack Nicholson’s Marine colonel,” The New York Times wrote.
Yes, it was. The moment was also reminiscent of a deer in headlights, as a wide-eyed Pelosi tried to make the case for the cameras to leave the room.
And the reminiscing went on when Sanders later took to Fox News to say: “The president is committed to making sure that one way or the other, whether it is through Congress or other measures, we protect our borders. … Frankly, it’s just sad the Democrats have changed their positions so much. If you look, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, [Joe] Biden, [Barack] Obama, all of these individuals in the past have supported border security. In fact, Chuck Schumer even said in a public statement that illegal immigration is wrong.”
D’oh. There is that.
There is this, too — call it the Sanders Finish: “Democrats,” she went on, to Fox News host Martha MacCallum “have to decide if they love our country more than they hate this president and so far we have seen no indication that they are willing to do that.”
Poor, poor Democrats.
They are simply not used to playing defensive. In their minds, in their games, they’re the ones who come out swashbuckling and attacking, waving the righteous indignation sword and cutting across the Republican Party with accusations of this, condemnations of that — and watching, rubbing hands in glee, as GOPers turn tail and run, caving yet again to leftist will.
That just ain’t happening these days.
Under Trump, the Republicans have found their stride. They’re not just fighting back. They’re winning. They’re winning on message and ultimately, winning on policy.
Poor, poor Democrats. They just don’t know what to do. They’re just not used to be treated this. They’re just not accustomed to being forced to fight fire with fire — or really, to fight at all.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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