Cruz: This Wasn't The 'Ted Cruz Shutdown'

Sen. Ted Cruz would do "anything" to stop full implementation of Obamacare, he told ABC News' Jonathan Karl when asked if he would be willing to allow another government shutdown in his fight against the healthcare law.

"I would do anything, and I will continue to do anything I can, to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare," Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday on ABC's "World News Tonight."

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Cruz was unfazed when Karl told him that the 16-day shutdown that ended late Wednesday is seen as "the Ted Cruz shutdown."

"Jon, I agree that a lot of D.C. politicians tried to call it that, and a lot of the media did, too," Cruz said. But the freshman senator said he repeatedly declared he didn't want a shutdown, and repeatedly voted to reopen the government.

Blame, he said, lies with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama for their refusal to negotiate or compromise. Cruz led the effort to tie defunding of Obamacare to the continuing budget resolution.

Republican leadership blasted Cruz, saying that while they agreed with his argument, his tactic wouldn't work. Polls showed the public blamed Democrats, Republicans and Obama for the impasse, but Republicans took the biggest hit, seeing their approval ratings hit a record low.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who along with Reid hammered out the final deal that ended the shutdown took a different view, saying there would be no further shutdowns.

"One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there's no education in the second kick of a mule," McConnell told The Hill.