Government Shutdown Day 2 Open Thread

This is the Tea Party strategy as I see it.

1)  Just about a week ago, Cruz did his 21 hour rant against Obamacare.  This did two things-Put Cruz in the spotlight and highlighted the arguments against Obamacare.

On the same day, tea party people fired a shot across the bow of the “Republican elite,” charging them with “thwarting the will of the people” and intimating them with the possibility of tea party challenges, not just in district elections, but for party positions.

The goal was to force Boehner into a “no compromise” position on defunding Obamacare or to delay funding for a year, in the Continuing Resolutions that the House sent to the Senate. And, to convince Boehner not to allow a vote on the “clean” CR from the Senate.  Cruz lobbied Republicans in the House and by Saturday, he had cowed Boehner, who is now on board with that strategy.

The Republicans are talking about a “united front” behind Cruz with Boehner supporting the Cruz/tea party faction.  Cruz was all over Sunday talk shows consolidating his position.

 (Evidently, there are enough Democratic and Republican votes in the House to pass the Senate clean CR resolution; but allowing that vote would cost Boehner his Speakership.  I don’t understand the latter contention because I don’t understand what the “rogue” Republicans would do….the “rogue” Republicans are now the moderates, like Peter King.)

The first part of the Tea Party strategy was successful.

2) The second part of the strategy was to allow the government shut down. 

3) The third part of the strategy is to capitalize on the glitches in the Obama care new health insurance “exchanges” and the increase in some premiums and other problems attributed to Obama Care.  Talk radio is critical to this PR effort.  Yesterday, the lines

were open all day as people called in to complain about crashing websites and in comprehensible instructions.  The goal here was to create public opinion that Obamacare

was so awful that the republicans were right to try and defund or postpone its implementation.

I am not so sure that this is working.  People are frustrated with the technological problems, but, my sense is that the public wants the problems fixed NOW without anymore delays.  This is strategy that may backfire on the Republicans.

4) The ongoing House republican strategy now is to:

  – Influence public opinion by sending small funding bills to the Senate that would fund popular programs…such as VA services and National Parks.  It is anticipated that Reid would not allow such bills to come to the Senate floor and the repubs would then publicize Reid’s refusal.

-Attempt to break the solidarity among Democrats in the Senate by “pealing off”

One or two vulnerable Democratic Senators with such bills.  Joe Manchin of West Virginia is sent as one potential break away.

-Work to shift blame from Congress to the President, i.e. “ The President won’t negotiate and won’t intervene to help break the deadlock.”  Chris Christie, certainly not a Tea Party favorite, but part of the new “United Front” initiated this campaign by his attack on Obama, yesterday, for not “being in charge.”  (Talk radio is reporting that Obama wanted to get Reid and Boehner together in the White House and Reid refused.  This may not be factual, but it is the kind of rumor that can be spread via talk radio.)

President Obama is scheduled for a trip to the Far East shortly. If he leaves the country, with the government shut-down and Congress in deadlock, I predict, the public will turn against him and with that, the dems will lost all leverage.

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