This situation may be the greatest political trap in history and the GOP have somehow managed to sleep walk into a massive lose-lose situation for themselves. A neutral as possible thread from me. #stimulus (1/?) https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1291795009482690564

Back in March, following the passage of the #CARESAct, Democrats accelerated full speed ahead into conversations over their next stimulus proposal. Republicans on the other hand, sat back, taking a more wait and see approach. (2/?)

Then in May, Democrats brought forward and #HEROESAct and quickly passed the $3+ trillion bill through the Democrat controlled House. The bill was then sent to the Republican controlled senate. At this point, Republicans continued in their wait and see approach. (3/?)

This approach remained until the final two weeks of July. Seeing what was unfolding across the country as well as in polling, the GOP were forced to act. However, rather than negotiating on the #HEROESAct, the GOP instead decided to propose their own bill. The #HEALSAct. (4/?)

The $1 trillion bill attempted to balance the wants of Senate Republicans who favored little to no involvement due to previous cost of the CARES Act However, unfortunately for Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, the proposed #HEALSAct was not warmly received by the Senate GOP. (5/?)

This immediately created a political nightmare for the Republican leaders in Congress. Having failed to act on the #HEROESAct, Senate Republicans had now proposed a much maligned bill that had zero chance of ever passing in the GOP controlled senate. (6/?)

Because of this, the ball and leverage was firmly in the hands of the Democrats. Not only had they already passed a bill in the House, but they represented the wishes of a majority of Americans according to multiple polls. (7/?)

With the leverage and power in negotiations, Democrats took the high ground. Demanding the White House and GOP come up to their level when talking about the next #Stimulus packages total spending. At this point the trap is set and Republicans are trapped. (8/?)

If the White House and GOP do negotiate and agree to a deal, it would almost certainly be closer to the #HEROESAct than the #HEALSAct in terms of total value and cost. In this situation, Democrats are victorious and hailed as the party of the people. (9/?)

However, if the White House and GOP don't negotiate and fail to land a deal, the party is scorned by the country with headlines such as "GOP Sinks #Stimulus and Economy" likely to make the rounds. (10/?)

In the "Deal" Scenario, Republicans lose ground in public opinion as well as create quite a bit of internal infighting over such a deal. Conservatives vs Moderates would quickly become a big deal for the party thats already facing a potential major loss in November. (11/?)

However, in a "No Deal" scenario, Republicans across the country are vilified. With Democrats occupying both the moral and negotiating high ground, the GOP faces a wipeout of massive proportions in November with multiple imperiled Republicans almost guaranteed to lose. (12/?)

In my opinion, this may be the best laid political trap of my generation. Democrats have guarenteed themselves either a #Stimulus bill on their terms or a historically big victory at the polls in November. (13/?)

For Republicans, the situation is dire but very simple. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. (14/14)