Punchbowl News: “A string of missteps has provided Democrats a boost in the back-and-forth battle over who would be responsible for a shutdown if federal agencies run out of money in seven days.”

“President Donald Trump Tuesday abruptly canceled a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, giving Democrats an opening to paint him as indifferent to finding the votes he needs to keep the government open.”

“House Democrats also are jumping on Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to keep the House on recess beyond the start of a shutdown as proof that the GOP isn’t taking the crisis seriously.”

“On one side is the minority party, using what little leverage it has — a looming government funding deadline — to push for priorities it can’t enact otherwise. On the other is the majority, insisting a short-term funding punt is no place for negotiation,” Politico reports.

“If that sounds familiar, that’s because just such a scenario has played out dozens of times on Capitol Hill over the past decade and a half — usually with Republicans pushing for policy concessions and Democrats insisting on a ‘clean’ stopgap.”

“Not this time. The roles have been reversed between the two parties as Congress barrels toward a government shutdown Oct. 1 with no obvious off-ramp in sight.”

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.”