I just watched a great exchange between former House Majority Leader Tom Delay and former Bush II adviser Mark McKinnon that outlined so articulately the fight within the ranks of the GOP:
Sen. Ted Cruz hinted in an ABC News interview Thursday that another government shutdown isn't off the table, and fellow Texan Tom DeLay agrees with him. LINK (courtesy CNN): http://www.cnn.com/...
"If that's what it takes to stand on principle and win, yes. Absolutely," Former House Speaker DeLay told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
"There's a movement out here in the real world," DeLay said. "People are desperate to stop this runaway federal spending. They're desperate to get rid of Obamacare."
Another Texan, former George W. Bush aide Mark McKinnon, disagreed, saying Cruz has "basically burned down the reputation of the Republican Party and is standing on the ashes [to make himself a little taller]."
DeLay said Cruz is a major leader of the Republican Party.
"I was just at a meeting last night where people were just singing his praises," DeLay said. "And they will carry him on their shoulders when he gets back to Texas."
McKinnon, co-founder of the bipartisan No Labels group, predicted Cruz will represent Texas for a long time, but doesn't have broad support.
"Mark, you need to come home," DeLay responded. "You have no clue."
It's fascinating reading about the internal conflicts as they unfold behind closed doors, but watching it on national TV? Priceless. The shutdown plan failed miserably and those responsible have shifted the focus of the fight from the Dems and turned on their own. The only questions that remain are; 1) did they build their house of straw, wood? And 2) how long do we have to wait before the teabagger wolf is able to blow the house down? My money's on the former and the time? It can't come soon enough.
