If you grew up in one of the blue-collar towns across America, you are no stranger to disputes being settled by a couple of guys going toe-to-toe. Sometimes it was over something important, sometimes it was over an insult or a slight, and sometimes it just had to be done — for no other reason than one of them was tired of being pushed around.

For many Democrats, it felt good to see their party stand up to the bully Donald Trump and the Republican Congress, even if it led to the longest federal government shutdown in history. Democrats finally got a chance to showcase Trump’s determination to cut food stamps and health care for struggling families so that he can cut taxes for his super-rich pals.

During the shutdown, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark tried to explain the Democrats’ strategy to Fox News, saying that while shutdowns are “terrible,” they are “one of the few leverage times we have” to try to get Republicans to the table.

But Trump was not coming to the table on health-insurance premiums or anything else. Democrats faced the dilemma that the good guys face in those hostage movies when it becomes clear that the hostage taker was more than willing to sacrifice the hostages. When that happens, there is no leverage that could lead to any kind of a deal.

And when it became clear that the very people who the Democrats were fighting to protect were beginning to suffer even more, enough Senate Democrats decided to end the shutdown and move on.

As Russell Berman and Jonathan Lemire wrote in their article “Why the Democrats Finally Folded” in The Atlantic, some Democrats wanted to keep the shutdown going. They wanted to keep fighting Trump.

One unhappy Democratic aide told them, “I think a bunch of adults looked at a toddler’s temper tantrum and came to the conclusion that you can’t negotiate with a toddler who’s going to pitch a goddamned fit in Toys ‘R’ Us. They were like, ‘Give him the Barbie and leave the store.’ ”

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the action by fellow Democrats “a terrible mistake.” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said that abandoning health care by ending the impasse made a “horrific situation worse.”

But it is time for Democrats to get back to business. As Ezra Klein wrote last week in the New York Times, “The shutdown was a skirmish, not the real battle.”

“Both sides were fighting for position, and Democrats, if you look at the polls, are ending up in a better one than they were when they started.’

‘They elevated their best issue — health care — and set the stage for voters to connect higher premiums with Republican rule.”

Democrats have plenty to build upon, starting with the “blue surge” that flipped many Republican seats to the Democrats in this past election. In addition to health care, the rising cost of groceries and everything else will surely be major issues in the 2026 midterm elections for control of Congress.

“Elections have consequences” is more than just a civics class slogan. Democrats lost Congress and the White House in 2024, and for that they have no one to blame but themselves.

They could never win by prolonging a standoff with a president who holds all the cards. They need to win elections if they want to change national policy. It’s that simple.

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