House Democrats clapped and cheered as they resolved to shut down the government at a closed-door meeting Monday evening. And according to several lawmakers in attendance, no one raised the negative political consequences of the decision.

That only makes sense; the politics here are so obviously calamitous that only willful neglect could explain the decision. Any second-year political science major could tell you this will backfire. The fundamentals just aren’t in their favor. As President Donald Trump might put it, they don’t have the cards right now.

Recommended Stories

Federal government enters shutdown after Congress lets funding expire

Will GOP voters stay home in 2018? You would think

Fetterman urges Democrats to ‘win elections’ before making shutdown demands