Playbook: “Dems have been torn for weeks. They know — as we all do — the received wisdom: that the American public hates shutdowns and tends to blame whichever party failed to back a funding bill. And they know exactly how a shutdown is likely to play out. It’s hard to see Republicans buckling under pressure — meaning at some point, Dems would have to come back to the table, and likely with nothing to show for it.”

“But sometimes in politics, resistance is the point.”

“Think of it this way: Forcing a shutdown is the legislative equivalent of Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) record-busting 25-hour filibuster earlier this year: futile, but also guaranteed to secure wall-to-wall media coverage, and to show Dem activists that at least some in the party are willing to use every tool at their disposal to fight back.”