Hey D.C. Dems: Somehow you're actually winning the messaging war for once; now open up the government and help the People!

Dems are now up in party identification by 7 points from January, and as it stands right now, most Americans blame Trump and the Republicans for the government shut down. On top of that, a majority of independents now say that they would like to see Democrats in charge of the House. All of this is really strong news and signals a shift is underway.

So now Democrats need to prove that they would be a responsible governing party if elected, and there's only one way to do that: by voting to end the government shutdown before the People feel any more pain. However, if they don't, Democrats in D.C. run a very serious risk that they will start getting some of the blame as well and looking just as bad as Republicans. This is something they cannot afford.

Every day this administration continues, it becomes more and more clear to the American people that President Donald Trump simply does not care what happens to them. Whether it's the destruction of the East Wing of the White House, his threats to dump Argentinian beef into the U.S. markets, forcing U.S. taxpayers to take $40 billion in bad Argentina debt, higher prices that he denies exist, or terrorizing cities and communities across America with masked federal agents, the American people, and independents in particular, don't like what they are seeing. Trump, however, doesn't seem to care.

D.C. Democrats are masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and I'm afraid they are about to do the same thing here. If the Democratic Party wants to be different than Trump and the Republicans, they have to prove to the American people that they actually care, and won't let the American people go through any more pain than they are already experiencing.

The Democrats have now made their point. They have raised the issue of the ACA subsidies in the political consciousness. It is now part of the discussion, and Republicans cannot avoid it anymore. Now it's time to end the pain.

The smart thing for Democrats to do now is to open the government and then campaign like hell on getting all of the ACA subsidies restored. If the Republicans drag their feet and don't go along, and health insurance premiums go through the roof, every voter in the United States of America will know which side is to blame. The contrast will be clear and the Republicans in the House will be screwed because Trump does not want the ACA subsides restored and will view it as an act of betrayal if any Republicans go against him. This move would put all the pressure on Congressional Republicans to choose between serving the People, or serving Trump. The Democrats, in other words, could actually score a real victory here and show the People that they are the party that wants to see them do well and could actually force Trump for once to bend to their will.

However, if the shutdown goes on and more chaos continues, Americans will blame both parties sooner or later, and that will only help President Trump continue to cause damage and inflict pain on the American people. If that happens, D.C. Dems shouldn't be suprised if they start to look like part of the problem too.