The strategy works because of a simple fact. If the president in power has opposition on everything, the voting public will decide the president is not doing a good job and will vote for the party out of power in the mid terms (Clinton 1994, Obama 2010).
If the party in opposition is seen working with the president, the voting public will see the president as doing a a good job and will vote to keep his party in power come the mid terms (Bush 2002).
As a party, if the Democrats are to survive at all, there is no choice whatsoever over the coming two years. EVERYTHING Trump proposes MUST BE OPPOSED. It doesn’t matter what it is, there is no choice. Oppose it all. Even if he tries to push a Democratic position, oppose it because the moment you work with him, he gains.
I know some namby pamby Dems will decide ‘but this would actually be GOOD for the country” on some issue. That doesn’t matter a damn because it will only be good short term. This is the long game, and we’d damned well better get as good at this as the Republicans, or we die as a party. The Republicans played the long game and ended up with complete control of all three branches of government with a minority. Just think of what the Dems could do playing the long game with a majority.
Chuck Schumer was the perfect pick for a Minority Leader with a Clinton white house. He’s a deal maker and a deal maker would have positioned the polity for an election where some compromises are made, thus putting the president’s party in a position where they can pick up seats in a mid term. Chuck Schumer is NOT a “war time consigliere”. HE needs to get it through his thick skull that there are no longer any deals to be made in the Senate. EVERYTHING BE OPPOSED!
EVERYTHING!