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How Ted Cruz Won the Shutdown Drama
American Thinker ^ | November 3, 2013 | http://www.americanthinker.com/jonathon_moseley/

Posted on 11/03/2013 2:11:33 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

.......Skeptics ask: What was achieved by Ted Cruz with his 21-hour filibuster against ObamaCare on the floor of the U.S. Senate? What did Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives accomplish by trying to delay or defund ObamaCare?

To start with, Obama's nice-guy mask slipped, letting average voters see Obama's snarl. Talk show host Roger Hedgecock started calling the President "Barack Obey-Me" due to his arrogant behavior. The mask slipped because Republicans knocked it aside. Obama's shutdown "theater of the absurd" revealed a vindictive, petty tyrant in conflict with his political image, carefully created for superficial "hope and change" voters.

Second, Ted Cruz made it very clear that the ObamaCare disaster is the Democrats' baby. Sen. Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee, and other Republicans succeeded in sharply separating the Republican Party from then-looming disasters, now upon us. So now Democrats own this mess lock, stock, and barrel. Failing to distance the Grand Old Party from ObamaCare on the eve of its disastrous roll-out would have been foolish.

Third, the strategy of conservative Republicans always incorporated a "Second Act" that must follow whenever ObamaCare inevitably fell apart. Cruz anticipated that the American people would realize eventually: "Holy Cow! Those Republicans were right!" In fact, Cruz seized on a perfect opportunity, like a tennis ball hanging in mid-air in perfect position for a tennis pro to smash it effortlessly over the net. But the impacts are still in the process of unfolding.

.......However, it is absurd to view the situation as only a snapshot, viewing only one limited moment in time. A war is not won in a single skirmish. Cruz's critics narrowly view the shutdown as only one single event, not as part of an overall strategy......

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aca; barackobeyme; economy; jobs; obamacare
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

While Ted Cruz-Mike Lee engaged in their whole exercise.... They put on a brave face but figured they would fail to stop 0-Care. But they knew they would be laying down a marker. That Republicans have nothing to do with o-care and no Republican voted for it

When the 0-Crae website roll out is such an expensive disaster people figure 0-Care will be as bad. That awful website is the best advertising conservatives could have for why we don’t like 0-Care style socialized medicine. No one is signing up except for those who want gimme medicaid


21 posted on 11/03/2013 6:38:53 AM PST by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Unfortunately the McConnell wing of the Party destroyed all that Cruz did.

Pray America will wake up


22 posted on 11/03/2013 6:46:58 AM PST by bray (Coming Jan 2014: The Republic of Texas 2022)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

So she’s a left wing crony connected Harvard lawyer and zero though she was the perfect person to oversee the takeover of our health care system.


23 posted on 11/03/2013 7:08:16 AM PST by Aria ( 2008 & 2012 weren't elections - they were coup d'etats.)
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To: Gaffer

Cruz won—why? People remember his fight—tried to defund it—couldn’t make it, so he tried to delay it-—Now most people see that was really the right thing to do—Its a mess and needs to be re-done—re—constructed and reformed. It was not ready for prime time. Time to use Obamacare as an issue to vote out everyone with a “D” behind their names and about half the people with an “R”. If you called Cruz, Lee, Paul a Wacko Bird—you deserve to be voted out and impeached.


24 posted on 11/03/2013 7:49:16 AM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: EricT.

It’s a short drive to and from work for me, so I take what I can get. The alternative is even worse.


25 posted on 11/03/2013 8:49:07 AM PST by WhoisAlanGreenspan?
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; Moseley
David Limbaugh likes your article. Good job.
26 posted on 11/03/2013 3:21:32 PM PST by kristinn (Welcome to the Soviet States of Obama)
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To: LS

Wow, maybe she should get her a radio program because I know she does not listen to him.

She never mentioned anything about single payer though and I do not think I did either in my write up of what she said. Not sure where you have the correlation of single payer and what I said.


27 posted on 11/03/2013 4:18:33 PM PST by eartick (Been to the line in the sand and liked it)
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To: WhoisAlanGreenspan?

So you would throw out Ted Cruz and Mike Lee amongst others? Great strategery genius!


28 posted on 11/03/2013 6:52:07 PM PST by houeto (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: tanknetter
what we have now is not only a situation that's going to bring down ObamaCare, it's also going to be THE case study in how ineffective and incompetent big government is when forcibly inserted into major segments of the US economy. For at least the next couple generations.

I see the same dynamic building, and with the same result.

If the Republicans don't ride to the rescue of their 'friends across the aisle', and the American people are actually allowed to feel the pain of Obamacare, we will see the true spirit of America awakened from the grave. If allowed to proceed as it's laid out, Obamacare will do so much damage to average Americans, that they'll be forced to snap out of their left-liberal fantasies.

As you said, we could very well see Socialism collapse in America, but only if the people are allowed to experience it in full measure.

29 posted on 11/03/2013 7:30:07 PM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

There’s something else, on amnesty and other issues, every article I see now has the GOP-ers like McCain saying they’re going to have to wait until after the primaries to “move forward” on any of those issues. Cruz reaffirmed the Tea Party’s willingness to primary out RINOs. That’s resulting in stopping in its tracks a lot of bad legislation the GOP-e wants to collaborate with the Dems on.


30 posted on 11/03/2013 7:35:53 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: WhoisAlanGreenspan?; EricT.; Gaffer

The same talking heads who pushed Romney in the primary and bashed Gingrich are bashing Cruz now. Dennis Prager is another host that’s doing that. I think, like Krauthammer, a lot of the GOP-e talking heads are former Democrats who moved to the Republican side because of foreign policy. But they’re only marginally with conservatives on economics and social policy. Prager is really good at tearing apart the left on lots of issues though. He just seems to become utterly gutless when it comes to actually picking candidates to support.


31 posted on 11/03/2013 7:40:05 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: Windflier

The pain is going to be primarily felt by people who were already working and already more likely to vote Republican. The “free” health care is going to go to a lot of low info voters, immigrants and lower-middle-class people. Some of them can be turned from unregistered into permanent Democrat voters. Some of the middle class who might have backed the Republicans will switch to Democrat as soon as the checks start coming in. The Democrats knew what they’re doing with this overall plan, despite some of the incompetence of the implementation. The implementation will be fixed and forgotten and buried by the media soon enough. This law will not collapse on its own and will not create more “net” opponents to it than already existed in 2012. It’s a get-out-the-vote bill by the Democrats and will shore up presidential elections for them for the foreseeable future. Elections have consequences and putting the Democrats in charge of all branches of government like the public did in 2008 was guaranteed to cause severe long-term damage for the nation and is doing so.


32 posted on 11/03/2013 7:51:15 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: JediJones
The pain is going to be primarily felt by people who were already working and already more likely to vote Republican.

No, the pain is going to be primarily felt by everyone who works for a living and pays for their own health insurance, either privately, or through their employer.

The pain is going to be the most bi-partisan effect you've ever seen, and it's going to make millions of registered Democrats stop and seriously ask themselves just why they've been voting for Democrats all this time.

Stories about sticker shocked Dems are popping up in the news all over the place. They're losing their health care coverage just like Republicans are, but unlike Pubbies, they feel betrayed by their leaders -- particularly Obama, who promised them over and over that they could keep their health care plan if they liked it.

Just wait until thousands of formerly covered liberals begin being denied life saving medical procedures and medicines, or go broke trying to pay the heightened costs of health coverage through Obamacare. The left is quite literally going to explode in rage.

And if you think all those yuppies in upscale urban enclaves around the country are going to be happy being thrust into low grade government health care, ala Medicaid, you've got another think coming. They're going to be enraged.

There will be a price to pay at the polls for this. Dems in Congress will be lucky if they don't wind up decorating lamp posts because of it.

33 posted on 11/03/2013 9:59:53 PM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Windflier

The GOPe is knee-deep in it as well, they are just as beholden to the insurance companies as the Rats are.


34 posted on 11/03/2013 10:02:14 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: houeto
Neither one is up for election in 2014.

While it might be tough to lose Jeff Sessions & Jim Inhofe, I think we'd be better off without McConnell, Collins, and Graham if the other side was losing Levin, Durbin, Harkin, and Rockefeller.

Even if Lee & Cruz had to be sacrificed, clearing out these entrenched little gods of Washington would be well worth it in the long run.

35 posted on 11/04/2013 3:06:04 AM PST by WhoisAlanGreenspan?
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Terrific article which is spot on. Senator Cruz’s 21 hour Senate speech will be hailed as a turning point in American politics. It was a brilliant move, perfectly timed. It is now clear that Obamacare is a disaster that is harming millions of Americans. And it is only going to get worse. It will eventually collapse of its own weight. This is the natural consequence of a law so complex and poorly thought out.

Senator Cruz looks like Nostradamus.


36 posted on 11/04/2013 6:22:31 AM PST by JJHLH1
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To: eartick

We definitely need to get rid of Cornyn. Not only did he not support Senator Cruz, he actively whipped up votes against him. Cornyn needs to be sent home.


37 posted on 11/04/2013 6:24:23 AM PST by JJHLH1
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