Ted Cruz was already the most high-profile supporter of the conservative Republican "kamikaze mission" to defund Obamacare at all costs, but over the weekend he formally sealed his role as the face of the increasingly maligned-plan.
Whether you're asking Democrats, like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, or everyday Americans—of whom only 19% support a plan leading to a government shutdown, according to the latest poll—the plan is not popular. An aide to Sen. John McCain revealed his boss "hates" Cruz, using language too unsavory for publication. Meanwhile, Cruz' most high-profile supporter has turned out to be none other than Sarah Palin.
The former Alaska governor came to Cruz's defense over the weekend after Chris Wallace revealed on Fox News Sunday that he'd received opposition research on the senator from Cruz's fellow Republicans. Palin sprung to Cruz's defense via Twitter.
@FoxNewsSunday Keep it TRULY fair & balanced. Release the GOP names encouraging you to trash @SenTedCruz. No more anonymous sources.— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) September 22, 2013
When she went on air at Fox News later in the day, she blasted her fellow Republicans (presumably including her one-time running-mate John McCain) for "cannibalistic" behavior.
“Someday I’m going to tell America what I truly think about GOP elephants that would actually turn on a Senator who is fulfilling his campaign promises,” Palin said on Fox. She then referenced her educator father on air, jokingly admonishing, “You are a teacher, and you’d never told me elephants were cannibalistic.”
But where Palin sees cannibalism, others see practicality. Sen. Tom Coburn has been a vocal opponent of the plan to defund Obamacare for weeks, saying over the weekend that Cruz's strategy is doomed to fail.
“I think it’s a great attempt to raise the issue of some of the weaknesses and problems with Obamacare, but it’s not a tactic we can actually carry out and be successful,” Coburn told CBS's Face the Nation.
Palin, who hasn't held public office since 2009 when she left her job as governor of Alaska halfway through her first term, insists that Cruz's plan is following the "will of the people" even when the polling suggests otherwise.
"Following the will of the people is apparently a novel idea in D.C. these days. Just ask Senator Ted Cruz and his liberty-loving posse on Capitol Hill who have led the charge to defund Obama’s train wreck," she wrote over the weekend.