This is about tactics, not principle.
There you go really. That is it. It is all about the game, not the principle. Playing and using the same tactics over and over and over, expecting different results.
Our tactics haven't been working for decades. The last time we had winning tactics where we made a major advancement was 95-96 when we forced Clinton into the balanced budget though...shock.... a government shutdown.
Since then we changed and have been playing the compromise tactic over and over, expecting different results.
When we (and I mean we in the citizens position too) stand on principle and don't compromise on key issues, we win. When we don't, we cede ground. A good example, which is one of those few shining moments in the past couple of decades was the defeat of the McCain/Kennedy Amnesty bill.
McCain and the RINOs were playing the game, saying Amnesty was a given. We stood on principle and made our voice heard and the bill was killed. We were fighting both sides on this and the people won.
Then we lost our voice for a while.
The thing about Cruz's battle is it isn't about Cruz really, it is about the people standing up with him. He isn't tilting at windmills, he is sounding a horn and the people are rising up. Don't believe me, check out the thousands upon thousands of comments on various Senator's facebook pages. My Senator, Cornyn, received several thousand in a few minutes this afternoon when I was watching him comment about the issue. I haven't seen this much action in a long, long time- by the people.