Ted Cruz is a newly elected Republican Senator from Texas. In an article on CNN by Leigh Ann Caldwell, she describes the different actions taken by Cruz and the viewpoints of some people within the Republican party. After reading this story over, it seems to me that, like many Republicans within the Senate feel, that Cruz is advocating for something that in the end is a lost cause: the defunding of Obamacare. With a Democratic majority rule in the Senate, it would not be feasible to fight a losing battle at the expense of the entire government shutting down.Caldwell mentions that in a public opinion poll by CNN, many more Americans that oppose Obamacare would rather it pass and then appeal it or fix it up than have the entire government shut down over it. Furthermore, not only is there the possibility that the federal government gets shut down, but that the Republican party basically takes many steps back. It is mentioned in the article that the way to change the Obamacare bill would be to get more Republicans voted into office and that governmental shut down would hamper that happening. I would venture as far as to say that besides in states that have been predominantly red for years, Republican candidates in many elections would not get elected much higher than the local or possibly county level because the public as a whole would blame the entire Republican party for any consequences that would come if the government is shut down. That could be a huge backlash and depending on severity of the shutdown, it could lead to a Democratic "takeover" in Congress and even the Presidency for multiple terms down the road.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/24/politics/ted-cruz-government-shutdown/index.html?hpt=po_c1