In general, my read on history suggests that the times when we do have bipartisanship either take place because each party is deeply divided internally, thus creating ripe conditions for bipartisan alliances, or because there are strong partisan incentives for one party to cooperate with the other. When President Truman successfully reached out to Senator Vandenberg and some other Senate Republicans, it was crucial that many in the GOP did not want to be seen by voters as the way of liberal internationalism in the aftermath of WWII and the expansion of Soviet communism. When President Johnson found Republican cooperation on civil rights in 1964 and 1965, Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen understood that their party had a chance to improve their own standing as southern Democrats became the face of political reaction.

Why might bipartisanship be possible today? There are two reasons, and Senate Republicans will be the key to what happens. Basically, two developments are creating political pressure on Senate Republicans to at least consider working with Democrats. The first is that President Trump keeps delving deeper and deeper into politically intolerable territory. There are many Republicans who are deeply frustrated with Trump’s failure to move any legislative agenda and, especially after the disastrous response of the president to the white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, that he is causing irreparable damage to the reputation of his party. Each day seems to get worse, and some Republicans must be thinking that the only way to salvage their party is to reach across the aisle. Senate Republicans could decide that working with the Democrats is the ultimate way to stick it to the president.

Senate Republicans are also aware, especially after the collapse of the health-care bill, that the Freedom Caucus is now producing legislation that is so extreme it is not viable for many Republicans to support and that they are not committed to the basic demands of governance. Some Republicans like Senator John McCain have been warning for years that House Republicans are severely damaging the reputation of the GOP and, like Trump, making it hard for the party to gain traction even when they are a majority.

Will Senate Republicans make the dramatic move of trying to find legislation, from fixing the Affordable Care Act to moving onto criminal-justice reform or infrastructure, that might be difficult for Senator Schumer and his colleagues to say no to?

Democrats have less incentive to work with Republicans right now given the mess that the party is in. As they watch Trump’s approval ratings plummet and the congressional Republicans tie themselves up in knots, there is good reason for the Democrats to remain on the sideline. Yet if there are genuine opportunities that emerge, making progress on a few key issues could work in the favor of Democrats by providing a stark contrast to the destructive path of the commander in chief.