re: Why I think the democrats played this well

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Repubs were never going to threaten CHIP so that's a retarded talking point.

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If Republicans cared about funding CHIP, it would have been funded BEFORE they let it lapse for 4 months. Democrats have been pushing for CHIP for months now. McConnell promised Susan Collins to address CHIP before the end 2017 in order to get her vote on the tax bill and then screwed her over.

Republicans used CHIP as leverage to get Democrats to agree to a CR without addressing DACA first. Now CHIP is no longer a point of leverage. In three weeks, if McConnell breaks his promise about immigration compromise, or if Ryan blocks it in the house, or if Trump vetos it, there will be another shutdown. They will try to stir up anti-Democrat sentiment by claiming the shutdown is anti-military, but that won't be very effective considering Democrats have been pushing for legislation that would ensure military pay continues during a shutdown and McConnell has been blocking it.