You can certainly argue that shutting down the government to force a vote on Obamacare subsidies was the right thing to do. But it is very hard to find any strategic sense in putting Americans through a world of pain for 43 days only to shrug your shoulders and give up. Particularly as Schumer himself said the subsidies were a “life or death” issue and there was “no fucking way” the Democrats would cave on it.

But cave they did – and just as it looked like their strategy was paying off.