September 26, 2013

Ted Cruz's pointless triumph

A few days ago I wrote that Ted Cruz, whom I agree with 100% on substance (so far), was waging the war on Obamacare the wrong way. John Podhoretz at the NY Post agrees.
 
(emphasis added)
Every single one of those Cruz includes in the “surrender caucus” opposes ObamaCare and voted against it. The writers and talkers he includes in the “surrender caucus” have written or spoken tens of thousands of words against it and are as committed to stopping its harmful effects as Cruz is.

They simply don’t see the value in this game of brinksmanship; in fact, they — we — see that it might be harmful to the cause of stopping ObamaCare. This disagreement is over tactics, not core convictions.

This is enraging to Cruz and his followers. They want confrontation, even if the confrontation is purposeless at this moment — and doesn’t even involve ObamaCare.

They confuse style with substance. Cruz and others think that standing your ground and fighting at every turn is actually more moral than working on a long-term strategy to get rid of ObamaCare.

That long-term strategy involves winning elections in 2014 and 2016. A budget fight in which the Right is blamed for shutting down the government will be harmful to these crucial goals.
 Well put. The issue some conservatives have with going nuclear is all about the tactics - it won't work in the short term and will make matters worse in the long term.  What defeats Obamacare is winning Congress, Senate and White House.  Alienating the public does not achieve that.
 
Podhoretz raises another question - if you are against the tactics, why are you suddenly declared an enemy of conservatism and those who do support such tactics?  There's still a common goal - getting rid of the bloat that Democrats have thrust and continue to thrust upon the government.

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