Lost in the hullabaloo over the government shutdown is a notable change in President Trump's negotiating style and tactics.  Trump has cultivated a reputation as a dealmaker in the business world and the Democrats / Never Trumpers / Establishment Republicans have gone to great lengths to shatter this image.

Business deals at the highest level are usually negotiated one-on-one, with fully accredited principals working out deals which they then later impose on their minions.  Serious business negotiations are usually conducted in private with the terms not revealed until the deal is struck.  In the political world, principals rarely have such authority over their “bases.”  So political negotiations are often conducted with significant public disclosures along the way to shift public opinion in favor of the impending deal.

President Trump's early deal-making with Democratic and Republican opponents was conducted behind closed doors and was notable for its lack of success.  Democratic and Never Trump principals couldn't or wouldn't deliver their bases.  Even when Trump thought he had a deal agreed to, it usually went off the rails.

Trump has taken a different tack in the current government shutdown, starting with the infamous December 11th White House sit-down with Representative Pelosi and Senator Schumer.  He kept the press in the room, despite their proven hostility.  Then he delivered his very first televised Oval Office address on the border wall and immigration to explain the issues behind the shutdown on January 8th.  Now Trump has issued a shutdown resolution proposal directly to the public on January 19th.

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Trump appears to be taking his issues directly to the Democratic base, and the American public, for the first time.  The people who are not his Twitter followers.  Will it work?  That will depend upon the degree of intransigence which has developed in the Democratic base.  Even so, it is worth a shot.

The change in tactics is certainly Trump's response to the 2018 midterm election outcome.  He has probably also carefully considered the furor created by the Brexit deal negotiated behind closed doors by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Give Trump credit where credit is due.  He is actually a very supple thinker quite unlike the hidebound neanderthal caricature peddled by the hostile media.

Now we will find out whether the Democratic base has any flexibility.