Republicans are winning!

Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) told Glenn Beck during a radio interview Thursday that conservatives are “winning” the battle in Washington over Obamacare and the “government shutdown.”

“We’re winning the debate,” the senator remarked. “That’s why they are scared and they are attacking us. The more shrill it gets, the more scared they are.”

Cruz — one of the lawmakers who led the effort to defund Obamacare, and brought the issue to the forefront during a 21-hour speech on the Senate floor last week — referenced a Shakespeare quote that the lady “doth protest too much.”

“Why are they screaming so loudly? Why are they so personal? Why are they so filled with hate and fear? It’s because the American people are mobilized, are passionate and energized,” he said.  “And even worse, [they] understand that Obamacare is hurting millions of Americans, and that has the left terrified out of their minds.”

“They want the shutdown, and they want it painful,” he said.  “Take parks and memorials. The House passed a bill to fund all of our parks and memorials, to open every one of them up…Those bills don’t mention Obamacare. Doesn’t say anything about Obamacare.”

“President Obama threatened to veto it, and Harry Reid in all likelihood is going to step forward and say no. ‘No, do not fund the Statue of Liberty. Do not open our memorials,’” Cruz continued.

Pretty soon, Cruz said, “even as shameless as the mainstream media is — it becomes very hard to hide who it is that’s shutting these things down.”