Before the federal shutdown fades, we must focus on what happened, and what it means for battles still ahead.

First and most obviously, it didn’t work – most shutdowns don’t. For three decades, it’s been a Republican tactic to diminish the abilities of government and respect the people have for it.

Nevertheless, Democrats decided to try it, in the absence of any resistance to President Trump’s overreach from Republicans in Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court.

There are two important lessons to be learned here, one about policy and another about politics. On policy, Democrats dramatically brought to the fore our health care crisis in a way not seen since the Affordable Care Act was painfully enacted in 2010.

As occasionally happens, both sides are right. Republicans are correct that subs

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