Which party benefited from the shut down?

Below is an exerpt from Karl Rove's piece in the Wall Street Journal today. The Dem leaders who publically claimed they were in a winning position on this were and are delusional. They were also delusional to shut the gov down in the first place and believe the American public would not blame them.

Don't believe me, check out the chart below.

The longest government shutdown in history—and one of the stupidest—is thankfully ending. But the political warring over stupid ideas is hardly over. Both sides are busy with foolish internal fights.

In the past few weeks, Democratic congressional leaders insisted the shutdown was good politics for their party. The longer it went on, their argument ran, the more Democrats were likely to win the battle for public opinion.

The leading advocate for the idea that the more Americans suffered, the better it was for Democrats was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He told Punchbowl News that “every day we’re getting better and better as the message sinks in more and more deeply.”

The pugnacious New Yorker wasn’t alone. Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said that because of the shutdown “the Democratic Party looks powerful for the first time all year,” while House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D., Mass.) said it “is one of the few leverage times we have.”

Deciding that the shutdown with its misery and discombobulation was good politics wasn’t the smartest call. Saying it out loud raised expectations that Democrats would prevail in their main demand: the extension of Covid-era ObamaCare subsidies set to expire at year’s end.