The One Quote That Perfectly Sums Up Why The GOP Has Lost On The Government Shutdown

Democratic offices have been passing around last night and this morning a quote from conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.).

Stutzman explained to The Washington Examiner's David Drucker how the new GOP position in the government shutdown isn't really even about Obamacare anymore. It's about respect:

"We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is."

Conservatives don't really seem to know what they want anymore in these budget battles, which have dragged the ongoing government shutdown and debt ceiling together.

Remember, it started because Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were dead set on first defunding - and then delaying - the Affordable Care Act.

Their insistence on defunding Obamacare was strong, but Republicans would openly admit that they didn't have a clear strategy, and that led to bickering within the party. One GOP aide complained that Cruz and other "defunders" don't have a plan beyond expecting Obama to sign a rollback of his signature legislative achievement in a grand, Rose Garden ceremony.

But with the shutdown in its third day, Republicans are pushing piecemeal bills that fund popular parts of government affected by the shutdown.

Here's another quote from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who spearheaded the "defund" effort in the House by getting 80 House conservatives to sign onto a letter urging House leadership to defund Obamacare:

"This fight now has become about veterans, and about National Guard folks that perhaps-reservists that are not getting paid. That's where the fight is today."