Remember when Newt Gingrich led the charge in shutting down the government when Bill Clinton's White House proposed a "balanced budget" that didn't really balance? The Democrats said they'd balanced the budget; Republicans said Clinton would create a $115 billion deficit. The ensuing shutdown (which lasted less than one month) was greeted by hysteria in the press. In fact, it's one of the reasons why Gingrich is so reviled by the Left today.

Clinton didn't take it very easily. During his State of the Union address -- with Newt sitting awkwardly onstage -- Clinton told a story about Richard Dean, a man who'd risked his life during the Oklahoma City bombing. After the government shutdown, Dean was working to help people get their Social Security benefits without pay. Clinton thundered, "I challenge all of you in this Chamber: Never, ever shut the federal government down again!" Democrats cheered and Newt sat uneasily on the podium, waiting for the applause to die down.

(This was one of the more awkward moments, before Clinton showed us just how awkward things could get in Presidential politics.)

However, Democrats are changing their tune now that they don't like what's going on in the White House. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons recently said that shutting down the federal government is the "only card" Democrats can play to negotiate with Republicans now that they have the power.

"Sen. (Chuck) Schumer, who's our Minority Leader, who's the leader of the Democratic caucus, is regularly negotiating with Majority Leader McConnell over what we are willing to do or not do to shut down the government or shut down the Senate," Coons said. 

This prompted Instapundit's Glenn Reynold's to quip, "You can be sure it will be different if they do it."