In case you were confused, Texas state senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis
explains the difference between her filibuster of a restrictive anti-abortion bill and the federal government shutdown Sen. Ted Cruz played a major role in causing:
“I was attempting to block a bill that would have harmed thousands of women across the state of Texas,” she said. “Never once, of course, did I threaten to literally shut down the state government for that purpose, and I certainly would never use the budget in the state of Texas for purposes of making a political statement.”
That's pretty simple and clear, isn't it? Davis also had something to say about Cruz and leadership:
“I think he demonstrated that being the loudest person in the room isn’t necessarily equivalent to being a leader,” Davis said. “I was disappointed to see that he was willing to put so many thousands of Texas families in harm’s way for purposes of making a political statement.”
That's about the size of it. Although Cruz wasn't just "willing" to put Texas (and Arizona, New Mexico, Alabama, Arkansas, New York, and every other state) families in harm's way for the purposes of making a political statement. He was eager to do it. But then, Cruz and Davis each bear a striking similarity to their filibusters that grabbed national attention: Cruz's filibuster was fake. Davis's was the real deal.