Ted Cruz Won

First, the Left knows victories are won through the fight. This is the core of the new Alinskyite model of the Left — continuous agitation, continuous fundraising, continuous energy. The fight builds support and support builds the fight.

The Cruz-led fight over the last few weeks has done the same thing for conservatives. Cruz strengthened the fight against Obamacare because he exposed the insider D.C. establishment in a way nobody else has. True, polls show that Americans have a lower opinion of the Republican Party after the fight. But many of those with a lower opinion are regular conservative Americans who saw the establishment members of the GOP turn and bolt in the face of the fight. Over two million signed a petition supporting Cruz. That’s a heck of an email list, generated almost overnight. ...

Some in the GOP think they can win a couple of elections over the next few years and unravel the program once the GOP gains the White House. This ignores the shrinking attention span of the body politic. It also ignores the fact that many in the GOP are part of the problem. The establishment GOP needs a series of inside straights even to win the seats necessary to implement this plan. Worse, the Republican Party seems unable to grasp the ground game of the new Left. The Left changes the narrative in the short term and ends up winning long term. Compromise is never the game. Battles are won each day, and not deferred.

What evidence does the GOP offer to show they are likely to draw those inside electoral straights necessary to repeal Obamacare after 2016? What makes anyone think they will win the Senate or White House? It certainly isn’t the performance in 2012 where an unpopular incumbent saddled by economic malaise crushed a Republican known for compromise and civility.

Fighters win these days, and Obama knows how to fight.

I think he's right.