Freshman Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has made defunding Obamacare his cause celebre. He spent much of the summer railing against it in town meetings and getting the base all hot and bothered about it. After the August recess, he moved into combat mode which culminated in this week’s long, drawn out speech (not technically a filibuster) that included comparisons of the Affordable Care Act’s supporters to the Nazis and a misinterpretation of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. The vote count is against him, and he is causing unease in the party. Indeed, it is not much of an exaggeration to say he has split it.
Mr. Cruz is a very ambitious man, and he sees the attack on Obamacare as a way to raise money, enhance his profile in the media and grow his standing among the reactionary grassroots. He also has some support on Capitol Hill: Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Pat Roberts of Kansas, David Vitter of Louisiana, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Rand Paul of Kentucky all back him. Senators Rubio and Paul, and perhaps some of the others, are also planning campaigns for the White House in 2016. Not being to the left of Ted Cruz may be the only reason for their support, but for most, they appear to agree completely with Mr. Cruz.
That said, the senator has won the “Wacko Bird” label from Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Senator McCain may be flighty at times himself, but he is within what one might call the pre-Tea Party consensus of the Republican Party. The man is a conservative, an honorable veteran of a dishonorable war, and one seems to recall him winning the GOP nomination for president in 2008. Mr. McCain is not readily written off as Republican in Name Only,
Others of Mr. McCain’s mind are Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Cornyn (R-TX). These gentlemen are hardly centrists; calling them conservative is like observing the Pacific Ocean is moist. However, the Senate Conservative Fund, which is running ads against GOP legislators who don’t want to support Mr. Cruz, has gone so far as to call these two “turncoats.” It is as if they had crossed the aisle and were sitting in the Democratic caucus.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is a man with whom it is easy to disagree. Yet he hit the nail on the head with his assessment of the situation, “Repealing Obamacare is a goal all Republicans share, but the tactics of achieving that goal can have a backlash.” Mr. Graham is up for re-election in 2014 (his is a safe seat), and he is rightly concerned that the backlash of which he speaks could undermine efforts by the Republicans to win the 6 Senate seats they need to take over the chamber.
There are a trio of divisions that have become clear. First, there is the divide between the Republicans in Congress who have presidential ambitions and those who seek more Republicans in the Senate. What might get one faction what they want tends to undermine what the other set seek. Second, there is a generational divide. The Wacko Birds tend to be younger than the other lot. This suggests that the Republican leadership in 10 or 15 years may well be of the Wacko variety, and thus, doom the GOP to semi-permanent minority status. Third, there is a cleavage between the grassroots idealogical purists, and those in office who need to do such unpleasant but necessary things as pass budgets.
Monday, federal fiscal year comes to an end, and the question of whether there will be a government shut-down will be answered. On October 17, the Treasury has said the US will have issued all the debt it can without an increase in the debt ceiling. It will be interesting to see who decides to be responsible and who decides to stand his losing ground for purity’s sake. One uses “interesting” in the worst sense of the word.