https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfha_jm5XkY

(Relevant segment of video starts at 29:07)

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) appeared on Hannity last night to discuss the status of negotiations between President Trump and Chuck and Nancy to end the partial government shutdown. Graham said that if Trump yields to Democrats, it would be “probably the end of his presidency” and would “mark the end of 2019 in terms of him being an effective president.” Graham is not overstating the import of Trump’s handling of this issue.

Graham cited a previous guest’s comment that “Democrats are not for border security.” He responded:

Yeah, they are, except when Donald Trump is President. I’ve seen them in action. They have all voted for $25, $42 billion, you name the number, for border security. They won’t give a dime to this President because they want him to fail. Walls work. Trump said “Let’s make a deal.” Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi said “Go to Hell.” We’ll see what happens.

Hannity asked Graham what the Republicans would offer as a compromise.

The compromise is give the President the $5 billion we need for wall/border security as a down payment to securing the border.The DACA population is about 700,000. Give them work permits for three years so they don’t have to worry about getting deported anytime soon. The TPS people who came here years ago from war torn areas, hurricanes and floods, renew their legal status, no path to citizenship and call it a day. It’s called compromise. The President said ‘Let’s make a deal.’ The Democrats said ‘Go to Hell.’ They’re going to send a bill from the House to the Senate has no money for the wall. It’s not going to see the light of day. Mitch McConnell’s never going to bring a bill onto the floor of the Senate that doesn’t have money for the wall. We need the wall. They’ve all voted for the wall. The only way we’re ever going to get a wall is to fight for it.

Fox News’ Lauren DeBellis Appell wrote an excellent op-ed in which she concludes that the current fight has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with the 2020 Presidential election. She cites past comments in support of border security made by both Schumer and Pelosi.

In 2009, while speaking at Georgetown University, Sen. Schumer, D-NY, said “illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple.” Indirectly referencing over 600 miles of border fence that had already been built, he literally claimed it was a “significant barrier to illegal immigration.” This is exactly President Trump’s position about completing the border wall, almost word for word.

Schumer is also on record, and on video, as having said, “One of the most effective things we do on the border is turn people back … they get up to the border and we find them and say, ‘go home!’” Again, this is President Trump’s position, almost word for word.

House Minority Leader and incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also had a different position on borders. In 2008 she said, “Because we do need to address the issue of immigration and the challenge we have of undocumented people in our country. We certainly do not want any more coming in.”

Even Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for president took a hard line on illegal immigration as late as 2014 saying, “We have to send a clear message that just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean your child gets to stay. We don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or encourage more children to make that dangerous journey.”

Appeal concludes:

Democrats aren’t used to Republicans not caving to them. For the first time in a long time we have a president who’s working hard to deliver everything he promised.

For President Trump this is a national security fight, but for the Democrats this is just another case of anti-Trump resistance. If he didn’t want any funding for border security, Democrats would probably insist on it. It’s all a game to them.

It truly is all a game to them. Oppose everything Trumps stands for. The Democrats’ and their publish relations arm, the mainstream media, were exuberant over Mitt Romney’s Washington Post op-ed in which he severely criticized Trump. Since when has the media embraced Romney so warmly? Since two days ago when he penned his scathing assessment of Trump’s character. Gutfeld sends a warning to Romney. “So Mitt, that warm glow you feel from the left isn’t true love. It’s a bug-zapper. They’ll pull you in, as long as you diss Trump – but only until it’s time for them to fry your butt.”

One thing is for sure. President Trump has to remain steadfast in this fight. He can and should offer to compromise by proposing to extend the work permits of DACA recipients. This is the way agreements are reached in Washington.

Why do Democrats believe placing politics before national security is a winning strategy? Their refusal to provide $5 billion to fund a border wall which will indisputably decrease the number of illegal migrants streaming into the US, especially if they are offered something as desirable as the extension of 700,000 permits for DACA workers, will not help them in 2020. Especially when many of them have voted to provide much larger sums for similar projects under previous presidents. The campaign ads will write themselves.

Donald Trump won a national election. How can Chuck Schumer, who has won only statewide elections in one of the bluest states in the country, and Nancy Pelosi, who has won only district-wide elections in one of the bluest districts in the US, allow a partial government shutdown to continue and refuse the offer of what amounts to a windfall for DACA recipients (assuming Trump offers this or some equivalent), over $5 billion? Border security is an important issue for most Americans and playing politics instead of doing what’s best for national security will not be a successful course of action.

They’re intransigent posture, “wall funding is off the table,” is not how smart politicians open negotiations. Their unwillingness to compromise, it seems to me, places responsibility for the shutdown on their shoulders. We’ll see what Friday brings.