please, guys, understand i'm not talking right/wrong here.
i'm talking political reality - learn to separate the two. karl rove was a disgusting pig, but a brilliant strategist.
When 2012 rolls around, Obama will stand on that debate stage and say "The repubs required I end obamacare and slash medicare, or they would shut it down. And they did! Just like they said they did.
Strategically speaking - 33 - please can you admit it was dogshit stpid for any tea party candidate to get in front of a camera and scream "i promise to shut down the govt", given the amount of damage it could do to the ENTIRE GOP two years later if a shutdown really happened?