So with that it mind, it was quite rational for Dems to expect to be out-gunned if confrontation escalates, and try to prevent escalation in the first place. Whether that strategy worked is an altogether different story.
^^^^ CB: The posts Wojtek responds to here are "naive" about the politics of the American people in this period. The right has been dominant for 30 years because people are voting for them. There is a widespread Reaganite political ideology in the population including among many Democrats and certainly Independents. The Democrats have a large section of rightwingers in their ranks. The Democratic majorities in Congress were not left majorities. The vote in 2008 was not to return to the great Democratic liberal tradition of the 20th Century. That's a fantasy reading of the 2008 election and wishful thinking about how left the US population and Democratic Congress are.