Senate Republicans who criticized GOP House members for their insistence on defunding Obamacare have hurt Republicans' electoral chances in 2014, says Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
“The single most damaging thing that has happened to Republicans for 2014 is all of the Senate Republicans coming out attacking the House Republicans, attacking those pushing the effort to defund Obamacare and lining themselves up opposite the American people,” he told CNN.
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The refusal of House conservatives to accept a spending bill that included funding for Obamacare led to the government shutdown.
Cruz would like to see a change of heart from the Senate critics.
“I’m hopeful there’ll be some time, some reflection, and that Senate Republicans will come back to the principles they believe and they campaigned on,” he said.
Cruz declined to say whether he’ll seek defunding of Obamacare again when the current government spending bill runs out in January.
“There will be time enough to talk about specific strategies and specific tactics,” he said. “There are a lot of politicians in Washington who want to put Obamacare behind us, who say, . . . no more discussing Obamacare. And you know what? The American people are not satisfied with that.”
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