With most Americans undeniably dissatisfied with the direction of their government, why would some congressional conservatives insist on identifying Republicans as unyielding defenders of a broken status quo? Their implacable obsession with uprooting ObamaCare and their die-hard resistance to immigration reform all but guarantee near-term legislative defeats and long-term devastation to future party prospects.

First, ObamaCare. Under relentless pressure from a handful of Republican senators led by Texas' Ted Cruz, the House on Friday passed a bill that would defund ObamaCare but keep money flowing for other government operations through Dec. 15.

But all observers—including Mr. Cruz himself—acknowledge that the Senate will overhaul the House's measure to restore the health-care funding. When the bill is then kicked back to the House, the public will face a government shutdown as the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. At that point, the GOP will confront a painful but inevitable choice: surrendering to the president and his allies, either before or after a wildly unpopular government shutdown.

Rather than confronting these incontestable realities, too many conservatives choose to embrace the role of sure losers. To use a military analogy, there is no glory in charging recklessly up a hill when you know your forces will be mowed down by enemy fire before reaching the top. Glory comes in making the enemy lose. The GOP shouldn't pursue noble defeat while standing on principle. You build momentum for a movement by achieving legislative victories, not by racking up high-profile losses.

This doesn't mean that conservatives should abandon all efforts to reduce the pernicious impact of the Affordable Care Act. But ObamaCare critics must adopt achievable goals rather than raising false hopes among the base by focusing on grand schemes to repeal or totally defund the program.