Democrats Should Respond To Trump’s Proposal?
Saturday January 19, 2019, President Trump offered to the Democrats his usual demand to fund the wall between the United States and Mexico for 5.7 billion dollars. His new negotiating offer is to serve up temporary extensions to DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and Temporary Protected Status for refugees who hold that status.
The Democrats responded with a flat rejection which might have been a mistake for these reasons:
A flat rejection paints the Democrats as not caring about the government shutdown. A lot of Americans fail to look deeply into the issues and for them issues like this are black and white.
A flat rejections sort of shows to federal workers that the Democrats don’t seem to care about their suffering.
There are a lot of Americans who are affected by the government shut down and these people just want to get their lives going again and want a quick resolution. Not being seen as working toward a solution may be a negative for the Democrats among this population.
Why then, did not the Democrats offer up a response such as allow 3 billion for the wall and full protection in the future for DACA and immigrants? Trump would most surely reject such a offer but we are dealing with perceptions and the Democrats would be seen as trying to make a good come back offer and with that, enhanced reputation.
The Democrats do have a good point that the shut down should have never been used for such a worthless purpose. Trump would probably shut down the government again if he does not get his way in the future. The Democrat’s stand should teach Trump that this tactic is futile. Problem with this thinking is, with Trump’s alleged lack of intellect, he never learns any lesson, fails to take good counsel and seems incapable of doing what is right for others. He only works for his self interests. The Democrats need a tactic where Trump sees his self interest advance.
Recommended Reading: Democrats reject Trump’s bid to negotiate on immigration for his wall