My must read of the day is "Was the Point Republicans Made in the Shutdown Worth the Price?" in the Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and like-minded House conservatives who sparked the uprising failed entirely in their effort to strip funds from the health-care law. In fact, they may have demonstrated definitively that the GOP today simply lacks the votes in Congress under any scenario to force meaningful changes to it.
In the process, they also brought on a government shutdown that deeply damaged the party, dismayed many in the party's business-community base, distracted attention from the budget issues where others in the party believe they have had the most success and turned the keys to that budget debate over to more moderate forces in the Senate.
So the question for many Republicans—to say nothing of Democrats and independents—is why the rebels thought the deep cost has been worthwhile.
There's nothing to cheer about here.
The approval rating of the Republican Party is in the tank, nothing has been done about the debt, and the Affordable Care Act is proceeding with little to no change.
I believe there is great value in taking a stand but—call me crazy—I don't see the value in proceeding with what you know is a failing strategy.
Making a lot of noise isn't leading. That's all this was. I could see some value in it if there was a concrete plan post-shutdown, but there wasn't one.
Let’s hope most voters don’t remember this in next year’s midterms. Of course, the whole thing could happen again early next year. And if it does, it’s more likely to be an issue in the midterm campaign.
The Republicans were poised to take control of the Senate in 2014. Many political analysts say that's less likely at the moment.