Ivanka’s Moderating Influence (TM)

Master negotiator Ivanka Trump is going to help her father win so much that you’re going to get tired of winning:

While Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill laying plans to repeal Obamacare, Ivanka requested a meeting with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. She and Jared went to see Richards in February for what Richards called an “explainer” on Planned Parenthood and the issues surrounding the organization. Ivanka went to the meeting thinking she might act as a kind of referee between the Republicans clamoring to de-fund Planned Parenthood and the organization itself. The meeting was cordial, according to a person familiar with it, although Ivanka and Jared did not commit to anything. When the first version of a health-care bill proposed to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, Ivanka’s surrogates reached out to the organization with an idea: stop offering abortions and the White House would advocate increased funding for Planned Parenthood clinics. Richards turned down the proposal. Then those same surrogates tried an end run, going around Richards and contacting Planned Parenthood board members. “It completely backfired,” said someone familiar with the effort. “It wasn’t just naïve from a Planned Parenthood perspective. It was naïve that the Republican House would have accepted it, because it would have meant keeping Planned Parenthood open.”

It’s hard to imagine how this failed. It is a well-known principle of negotiating that the people on the other said of the table never have any walk-away conditions and will ultimately settle on a “compromise” massively titled in your favor.* *Cf. Various Internet Commenters, “Barack Obama could have gotten multiple Republican votes for a $1.5 trillion stimulus and 60 Senate votes for single payer but Didn’t. Even. Try” (2010-present.)

I have more respect for adults who believe in the Easter Bunny than in adults who believe that Ivanka and Jared are a)competent or b)will have any moderating influence on the Donald.