Cruz crumbles A funny thing happened on the way to the shutdown: The Senate Republicans, from whose midst the defund Obamacare scheme came, are more united than ever, in large part because the ringleaders of the defund gambit were shown to be failures and, worse, inept. *snip* Many on the GOP side in the Senate are openly disparaging Cruz, who only a week ago was presenting himself as the model conservative. The burning resentment members and staff were expressing over the weekend as Cruz targeted them, rather than Democrats, has turned to open fury, disdain and much eye-rolling. Ted Cruz faced a barrage of hostile questions Wednesday from angry GOP senators, who lashed the Texas tea party freshman for helping prompt a government shutdown crisis without a strategy to end it. At a closed-door lunch meeting in the Senates Mansfield Room, Republican after Republican pressed Cruz to explain how he would propose to end the bitter budget impasse with Democrats, according to senators who attended the meeting. A defensive Cruz had no clear plan to force an end to the shutdown or explain how he would defund Obamacare, as he has demanded all along, sources said. He enraged colleagues further by refusing to repudiate his attack dogs at the Senate Conservatives Fund who savaged Republicans. A Senate source tells Right Turn, Cruz got the brunt, but Lee too. Perhaps most shocking, no senator, according to three GOP sources, rose in their defense. They have, to be blunt, been repudiated by a newly united GOP caucus. One Senate aide said, I dont think Sen. Cruz entered that meeting with a thick skin, but he left learning he needs one going forward, along with a strategy. *snip* Cruz recently has been compared to Barack Obama. Both were freshmen senators with presidential aspirations, big talkers and solo acts rather than team players. But Cruz experienced what Obama was smart enough to avoid a high-profile drubbing that deflated the image of an invincible new figure on the national stage. Moreover, Obama, unlike Cruz, was not openly hostile to his colleagues, thereby preventing a nonstop flood of criticism and embarrassing anecdotes. Maybe in the long run that will help Cruz, who could learn a lesson about attacking Republicans and promising supporters the moon and the stars. But, for now, the defund strategy designed to elevate him has exposed him as a disliked and inept lawmaker, giving rise to the question of what he is accomplishing for the voters of Texas. *snip* ..................... Extreme Right-Wingers sniping at each other. Delicious! - - - Updated - - - "But Cruz experienced what Obama was smart enough to avoid" I thought Rafael was the smartest in all the land?
The hero to the conservatives have been found lacking and left wanting.....thus no comment from the peanut gallery. Plus, this shut-down has not gone exactly like they have planned it would. They forgot that the trickle down effect means more than the 800,000 federal employees are affected with a shut-down of the government.
And when pressed to answer how he wouldve responded if other Republican senators had joined him in filibustering the government-funding (but not Obamacare defunding) continuing resolution, Cruz was reportedly evasive in his answers. He kept trying to change the subject because he never could answer the question, a senator attendee told Politico. Its pretty evident its never been about a strategy its been about him. Thats unfortunate. I think hes done our country a major disservice. I think hes done Republicans a major disservice. LINK
