Government shutdowns are disasters for Republicans, but right-wing media makes it almost impossible for the GOP to compromise in a budget fight.

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The U.S. government has experienced three major shutdowns over the past twenty-five years. In 1995, it was a fight over programs like Medicare. In 2013, it was over an effort to defund Obamacare. In 2018, it was over funding for a border wall. And while each crisis revolved around a different policy fight, they all followed a similar pattern: Republicans, egged on by right-wing pundits and talk radio, were pressured into forcing a government shutdown that eventually blew up in their faces.

Ever since the 90s, Republicans have become dependent on right-wing outlets like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh to rally and mobilize their supporters. That’s garnered them success in major elections, but it’s also backed them into a corner. Republicans know they can’t betray the conservative pundits who helped elect them, but those pundits are becoming more and more ideologically extreme, pressuring Republicans to shut the government down over even minor funding disputes.

As long as right-wing media has a stranglehold on conservative politics, Republicans will keep finding themselves steered into crises they know they can’t win.

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