Democrats in Congress gain victories but not acclaim

The L.A. Times reports:

Democrats have pulled off one of the most productive sessions of Congress in decades but have yet to win much in the way of approval — even from voters in their own party.

Now, instead of betting on success, party leaders may try the opposite approach — pushing proposals that are almost certain to fail.

As Congress returns to work this week, an idea circulating in Washington is that key blocs of Democratic voters can be fired up for the November elections if the party makes high-profile efforts to debate topics such as immigration and climate change, even if those efforts will probably end in defeat.