Suppose that McConnell or (worse) Trump had come out and said that they were prepared to grant temporary resident status to all Dreamers in exchange for passing this CR. How would the DNC have been able to turn that down? And how could we continue to push for DACA if the major issue (deportation of Dreamers) had been addressed for the immediate future?

There are far less favorable scenarios than the one that played out today. The fight continues and we’re now in a position to apply greater pressure on the GOP to get DACA made law. To say we “lost” today or that we “caved” is to abandon the fight, to say that there was no way we could have won it without complete capitulation of the GOP on the first go. And that’s not something I’m prepared to accept, nor should anyone who supports the Dreamers.