Obama had it right — a circular firing squad is on the way

The Democratic House and Senate leaders apparently decided that resistance to the Trump administration — rather than true deal-making — makes the most sense, holding out for a presidential victory in 2020. That strategic decision, unless soon reversed, might be their undoing. Had they opted for deals, they would have made a DACA-for-border-security swap, moved on infrastructure, and partnered on tax cuts to provide much more deductibility of state and local taxes. They think no deal is a better deal. Americans may — or may not — think so.

While Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) have been given outsized power, the newly elected moderates — the ones whose victories empowered the other Democrats in the House — have been largely shunted to the side. They have been castigated from all sides, protested against in their town hall meetings, denied plum committee assignments, and had to accept a watered-down resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

On top of all of these discordant voices in Congress are the 15 or so Democratic presidential candidates, many of them vying for the ultra-left sliver of Democratic activists and media who are far removed from the life of the everyday Democratic voter. Many are backing the Green New Deal, immigration policies that approach open borders, and are united in their desire to raise taxes for new spending.