The party’s split over supporting a spending extension to avert a lapse in government funding boiled down to a practical question of how much power the president has in a shutdown.

In failing to demonstrate what they stand for, Democrats fumbled the chance to show why they deserve a return to power, centrists and progressives say.

After weeks of frustration with President Donald Trump, the Democratic base has turned its ire on a new target: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the 9 Democratic senators who voted to advance a Republican funding bill rather than shut down the government.