This interview from ABC's This Week is noteworthy for two reasons. The fairly obvious one is that Cruz continues to stand firm in his determination to do whatever it takes to stop ObamaCare.
But the really interesting point to me is the disconnect that has Jonathan Karl and Cruz talking about two different things:
Karl keeps trying to pin Cruz down on whether he will "rule out" a confrontation that could lead to another shutdown. Cruz knows exactly what Karl is doing. He is trying to create a headline: "Cruz refuses to rule out another shutdown!" Because that is the narrative the media cares about - shutdown or no shutdown - as if everything is peachy and wonderful in Washington as long as the government keeps operating as per normal.
That's the narrative that the Beltway Crowd and the political media cares about - the next shutdown; who will be blamed? who will win and who will lose? blah blah blah - and Cruz refuses to accept it. He stays focused on the need for Washington to do whatever it can to serve the best interests of the American people. If the government runs normally every day - spending money it doesn't have on things it shouldn't do, while ObamaCare continues to ruin both health care and the economy - then it is no victory that government is up and running.
The more Cruz makes that point, the more Karl tries to pin him down on the whole "do you rule out" nonsense. It's a perfect encapsulation of how official Washington is caught up in its mindset, and doesn't know what to do with the odd bird who shows up with the intent of truly serving the people.
