"There's no point in resisting the GOP unless you have the votes to stop them" is a toxic idea that has infected too many Democrats.

FIRST, resistance sends a political signal, galvanizes the base, and makes the strongest possible case to voters. https://twitter.com/LeftyPuppetMan/status/1310237674771542018

SECOND, people often do not realize this, but NONE OF YOU CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE. At one point it looked like Kavanaugh would sail through, but then a bunch of unexpected events transpired and the confirmation was delayed many months and almost blew up.

By fighting back tooth and nail whenever you can, you ensure you don't miss future opportunities. The GOP understands this very well: it blockaded Garland, seemingly pointlessly, but then Trump eked his 2016 win and now they're poised to control the court for decades.

It sometimes feels like the GOP always gets lucky, but that's not what's happening. What's happening is that the GOP leaders are always taking maximalist positions, which means that when something DOES break their way, they are positioned to take advantage. They make their luck.

Democrats never make their luck - in fact, they almost always do the exact opposite. They try to map out a foolproof plan to get what they want, and when they can't see a clear pathway, or see too many potential pitfalls, they decide to do nothing at all. So nothing happens.

If you are constantly pressuring the other side, sometimes you'll force a breakthrough, often in an unpredictable way. If you never pressure the other side except when you see an opening, you'll miss every single one of those unforeseen opportunities (which is most of them).