Ted Cruz to Iowa Republicans: This Fight is Path to Victory Saturday, 26 Oct 2013 10:37 AM More ways to share... Mixx Stumbled LinkedIn Vine Buzzflash Reddit Delicious Newstrust Technocrati Share: More . . . A A | Email Us | Print | Forward Article 0 inShare.inShare.0 Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who incited a standoff over Obamacare culminating in a 16-day U.S. government shutdown, told party activists in Iowa that fighting the health law will pay dividends in the 2014 midterm elections. The junior senator from Texas, just nine months in office, won a warm reception during a 45-minute speech last night in which he said that his attempt to defund President Barack Obama’s signature health-care program has made a difference, even if it has cost his party in the polls. “Collectively, we accomplished a great deal,” Cruz told about 600 Republican activists at a downtown convention hall in Des Moines. “We elevated the national debate over what a disaster, what a train-wreck, how much Obamacare is hurting millions of Americans.” He told the party faithful the prescription for unifying the GOP in the wake of the bitter congressional battle that triggered the shutdown was to ignore both the media and Washington strategists. “This fight is worth it, he said. It is the path to victory. Cruz, 42, spoke at an annual dinner that’s one of the largest fundraising events for the state party and a regular stop for prospective presidential contenders. This is his third trip to Iowa this year, and he’s often mentioned as a potential 2016 Republican White House candidate. Even so, by inspiring a showdown over the 2010 health-care law and the subsequent partial government shutdown that ended last week, Cruz’s tactics have strained relations with colleagues in Congress and Republican allies elsewhere. Republicans are bearing the brunt of the blame for the shutdown, public opinion polls show. The episode has intensified an internal debate over the party’s direction, with the limited-government Tea Party element represented by Cruz urging ideological purity and more mainstream Republicans favoring a pragmatic approach and a broader party membership.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 00:52:37 +0000
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