Making all the right enemies

Noah Rothman points out that

Ted Cruz is despised by a hated Washington and the detested political press. He has generated this near universal loathing inside the Beltway due to his opposition to a deeply unpopular law. Objectively, Cruz has made all the right enemies.

Cruz’s self-assuredness is, for those in constant search of external validation for their beliefs and actions, an unforgivable trait. In spite of his soft-spoken demeanor and complete unwillingness to respond in kind, the junior Texas senator has been subject to the most vitriolic of insults from his political adversaries.

In choosing to make a stand against the ACA, Cruz chose the right hill upon which to die. In spite of the tortured efforts of some of the ACA’s defenders, polls have shown the law to be deeply and persistently unpopular. Today, the Real Clear Politics average of polls show 52.2 percent of the public opposes the law while just 38.7 percent approve – a 13.5 percent gap.