“There is no possibility of a government shutdown. Remember me? I’m the guy that gets us out of government shutdowns,”
— Soon-to-be-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Time magazine
The lefties over at Think Progress were elated.
It was September 30, 2013, and they thought they had the GOP right where they wanted it as Texas Senator Ted Cruz plowed ahead with the idea of defunding Obamacare—an action that caused Democrats to promptly shut down the government — and blame not just Cruz but the Republican Party. The whole event was giving prominent Republicans in and out of office the political willies.
Think Progress loved it. So much did they love it that they spent some time making a list of Republican senators, congressmen, governors, ex-office holders, potential presidential candidates, lobbyists and pundits who were spreading the word. That word? If Senator Cruz went ahead with his plan, it was some version of curtains for the GOP. The party would be toast.
Cruz sailed on, confident he would be seen not only as right — but that what he was doing was a boost to the GOP. It was, in fact, the exact same strategy that Ronald Reagan employed when he would veto a bill knowing full well he would be overridden by both Democrats and less than courageous Republicans in Congress — yet issuing the veto to draw a line between Democrats and Republicans so Americans would understand the bright line that was supposed to divide the two parties. At The American Spectator dinner last fall at which Cruz, along with Donald Trump, was featured? Cruz was candid. He recounted his criticisms from GOP colleagues in the Senate and noted that he had asked them for their alternative. Cruz paused, then said that the response he got was “the sound of crickets chirping.”
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
