The GOP starts every negotiation by promising they won't cause a government shutdown.
It's hard to win a negotiation by demonstrating at the outset you won't use your most effective weapon.
I agree the House has botched the debt limit negotiations. But it's important to recognize that's the only effective tool they've been left with to control spending.
A tool is not a tool unless it is used, sort of like an unloaded gun, once the enemy figures out you don't have any bullets in it.