◼ Cruz to CNN: ‘I don’t work for the party bosses in Washington’ - Ashley Killough/CNN
The Texas Republican, in an exclusive interview with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash in San Antonio, was unapologetic for fighting to defund President Obama’s health care law in the face of outsized odds, saying he doesn’t work for the “party bosses” in Washington. (Snip) “I work for 26 million Texans. That’s my job...
◼ Reviled by the Left, hated by the middle, disliked by his own party, the junior senator from Texas is exactly where he wants to be. - National Journal
The firebrand’s 21-hour faux-filibuster and no-surrender strategy during the government shutdown fight has endeared him to activists. The party establishment, meanwhile, is decrying a man they consider an ideologue unwilling to compromise even when the politics go south. Stay away from Ted Cruz, they say.
Sound familiar?
...“While establishment folks will blame him for the shutdown, he will become a rock star for standing up and fighting the fight,” said Dave Carney, a senior strategist for Rick Perry’s presidential campaign. “When Ted Cruz ran for office, from the day he announced to the day he was elected, he always said he was going to defund Obamacare and stop Obamacare, and the fact is that he did exactly what he said he was going to do.”
Carney added: “His scorn by the media and the establishment and Capitol Hill staff is just making him stronger. He comes across as a breath of fresh air.”
Sure, Cruz’s activism comes at a cost. (The same Pew Research Center poll found more non-tea-party Republicans dislike Cruz than like him.) The establishment, buttressed by the remaining moderate and liberal Republicans in the party, won’t go away quietly.
But the former Ivy Leaguer doesn’t need that wing of the party. He’s already gone a long way toward securing the activist base. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Bobby Jindal, among others, will compete with him for the religious conservatives who constitute the party’s conservative wing. But Cruz has already demonstrated something they haven’t: a wild popularity among evangelicals.
◼ Jeb Bush on Ted Cruz’s Tactics: ‘Have a Little Bit of Self-Restraint’ to Achieve Obamacare Repeal - ABC News
◼ Authorities probe death threat against Cruz - The Hill
◼ TED CRUZ: ‘LOUSY’ DEAL THAT ENDED GOV’T SHUTDOWN AMOUNTS TO ‘SELLING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DOWN THE RIVER’ - The Blaze
