Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer opined that a government shutdown would be “a disaster” for Republicans no matter who’s truly at fault, on “Special Report” Monday night.

The conservative commentator told host Bret Baier the GOP should pass a package that funds everything fully, pardon three-month extensions for the Environmental Protection Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he says Republicans can deal with when the new Congress is installed in mid-March.

Krauthammer pointed out that Republicans are finally ahead of Democrats in the poll of “who do you favor,” saying this would be the worst time to “blow” the new-found advantage, adding that those with “pent up anger” and “rage over the president’s unconstitutional action” should see a psychiatrist rather than vote to shut the government down.

Bret Baier: It’s kind of like a dog whistle, those two words: government shutdown. Whenever it’s said, it’s automatically lumped onto Republicans causing this. As Jonathan Karl pointed out in that Q&A, there are two sides to that street.

Charles Krauthammer: There’s reality, and there’s the way reality is reported in the media. We know that you’re right, if there were a government shutdown under these circumstances, it would be Obama being the one shutting it down with a veto. However, we also know that as night follows days, it will be reported everywhere as a Republican shutdown and they will suffer as they suffered last October, 2013, and it was a disaster.

Republicans are finally ahead of Democrats in the poll about who do you favor, and this would be the worst time to blow it. I understand the pent up anger and the rage over the president’s unconstitutional action. But the cure for that is to go see a psychiatrist, not to vote in the Congress to shut down the government.

I think what they ought to do is to pass a continuing resolution that will last through next year, through September, but for ICE, the immigration service only, and for the EPA, I would only have a three-month extension, at which point you would be fully funding the government but you would leave it in a position where in mid-March, when the Republicans have the high ground, control of the House and the Senate, they would be in a position to use the pressure to get what they want, either on regulation, on EPA stuff, environmental stuff, killing coal or on immigration issues. But you don’t do it now when the other guy has the higher terrain, and when you know how the press will report it.

The Republicans are ahead, they shouldn’t blow it.