Ted Cruz Can Stop Saying He's Speaking for America Now

PHILIP BUMP 1,378 Views9:41 AM ET
"I rise today in an effort to speak for 26 million Texans and for 300 million Americans," Sen. Ted Cruz said to begin his 21-hour, anti-Obamacare filibuster last month. Texas, maybe. But two new polls show that Americans strongly reject Cruz's shutdown and the Republican Party of which the senator is still ostensibly a member.

These new polls, from ABC/ Washington Post and USA Today, are of the toss-'em-on-the-pile genre, offering refinements to what we already knew: Republicans are less popular and less favorably viewed than any party in recent memory.

"Only 20 percent think Republicans are 'interested in doing what’s best for the country,' while 77 percent think they’re 'interested in what’s best for themselves politically," the Post reports. Also: "The party’s image has sunk to an all-time low in Post-ABC surveys … Almost four in 10 Americans have a strongly unfavorable view of the GOP."

When Cruz stood to speak during his filibuster, his target was Obamacare, not President Obama or Democrats. But even on that topic, America rejects his stated opinion. "[O]nly one third of Americans support repealing the law," the Post reports. And: "A sizable bloc of those who oppose the law want it to continue, anyway."