Orange Julius Gets Poll-Axed

The latest CNN/ORC international poll out today has some pretty lethal post-shutdown numbers for the GOP, and for House Speaker John Boehner in particular:

Just more than half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown.

And the CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that more than six in 10 Americans say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced.

The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, just after the end of the 16-day partial federal government shutdown that was caused in part by a push by House conservatives to try and dismantle the health care law, which is President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.

According to the survey, 54% say it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points from last December, soon after the 2012 elections when the Republicans kept control of the chamber. Only 38% say it's a good thing the GOP controls the House, a 13-point dive from the end of last year.

This is the first time since the Republicans won back control of the House in the 2010 elections that a majority say their control of the chamber is bad for the country.

So the shutdown has definitely hurt the GOP, at least in the short term.  Will it mean big gains for the Dems in 2014?  I'm still not sure that will happen.  It would be awesome if that was the case, but November 2014 is a year off.

But if the GOP still has numbers this bad a year from now, well things aren't going to be fun in Happy Republican Land.  I'm betting Cruz and company will find a way to make that happen.

A defiant Ted Cruz vowed to continue fighting Obamacare on Sunday, and criticized his fellow Senate Republicans for not coalescing around his failed strategy.

“I will continue to do anything I can to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare,” the Texas Republican said on ABC’s This Week.

Gonna hold you to that, Ted...