Ted Cruz: GOP Reaping Fruits of Last Year's Anti-ObamaCare Gov't Shutdown

Ted Cruz: GOP Reaping Fruits of Last Year's Anti-ObamaCare Gov't Shutdown

Although it was discouraged and subsequently chided, last year’s federal government shutdown that was kicked off by a “filibuster” on the Senate floor led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), has been a long-term success according to Cruz.

In a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, LA on Saturday, Cruz explained why and how it is paying dividends for Republicans now headed into the 2014  midterm elections.

“I want to point to the fight so many of us engaged in last fall and last summer to stop the abomination, to stop the disaster that is ObamaCare,” Cruz said. “Now, if you listen to the Democrats – if you listen to the media, although I repeat myself—they will tell you that fight last fall accomplished nothing. They will tell you everyone’s efforts standing up to ObamaCare did not succeed. Really?”

“You know, any wartime general will tell you that not every war is won in a single battle,” he continued. “What we did collectively last summer and last fall is we elevated the national debate all over this country about the disaster that is ObamaCare. Millions of Americans lit up the phones to Washington, D.C. Midway through, one of my colleagues literally made a fist pounding the table and said, ‘My constituents keep calling me.’”

“And a funny thing happened on the way on the way to the forum,” he added. “As a result of that fight, people suddenly connected — millions of people losing their jobs, millions of people being forced into part-time work, millions of people losing health insurance, millions of people facing sky-rocketing premiums – they connected it all back to ObamaCare that was sold under false pretenses.”

“And suddenly all the greybeards in Washington who opposed fighting against ObamaCare are now looking around and we’re winning Senate seats all over the country,” Cruz said. “They are reaping the fruits of the battle, which is perfectly fine but we need to take a moment to acknowledge the lesson of the battle – how do you win elections. You don’t win it by standing for nothing.”

Watch entire speech:

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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