The senate is trying to complete the fundamental change in government that Ds started with Obamacare - health insurance will be a right that federal government is committed to protecting with tax dollars and both parties will compete for who will “protect” that right best (e.g. spend more money).
Whether they think health insurance should be a right or not, that seems like a huge story. But the media is obsessed with a meeting where they agree nothing happened. I’d bet both McConnell and Schumer are happy that there isn’t much news about the senate health insurance plan - they both want this to pass without the people understanding what’s happening.
Here's the bottom line: the left doesn't have any ideas or proposals on how to govern going forward. The initiative is entirely with Trump and the populist/nationalist movement.
Even worse, not only does the left not have an effective program in which to articulate platform ideas, but they don't have a roster of capable politicians either to carry the message, if they even existed.
In other words, the left is forced to play defense. If you sit back and consider what this actually means, it means that just like the island hopping strategy in WWII, the grinding offense being conducted by Trump & Co will ultimately prevail.
So all they really have left in the bag is a long, structured, tactical retreat. The key to avoiding a route is to mount periodic skirmishes - think Napoleon's retreat from Moscow - to provide some semblance of protection to the main force.
The media onslaught is the rear guard; their actions provide cover while the left tries to recover. The reason the media can be effective is because they understand human nature. They know mass psychology; after all, Bernays wrote the book on how to manipulate & influence the body politic.
The left's hail marry is to attempt to alter the 2018 election outcome. It will be all negative, all the time, with crazy, pumped up stories that don't have to have any basis or foundation.
Trump of course understands this perfectly well. He understands the battlefield scenario, and knows what is occurring. So his chief weapon is to keep up the pressure - he controls the criminal justice system. All the assets are on his side. Slowly, but surely, the truth will out, but presented most effectively to capture both houses in 2018. That is the key date - everything else is just noise to keep people (both sides) occupied chasing the "cheese".