Shunning Cruz Only Increases His Power

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-AZ) told ABC News that he doesn’t need “99 new friends” in the Senate.

Rick Klein: “That’s just as well, but the problem for Republicans who see Cruz’s actions these past few weeks as problematic is that he doesn’t need any friends in Washington to do it all over again. Cruz is deriving his power – and the power of his convictions – well outside of Washington. Like Sarah Palin before him, efforts to shun and sideline him figure to only make him stronger, at least in the near future. Cruz’s reaction to the series of events he helped trigger speaks to the split inside the Republican Party: He sees victory in the process and defeat in the outcome. Most of his erstwhile friends see a disastrous process and the only hopeful signs in the way it came to an end.”