Ted Cruz is quickly becoming a Religious Right hero, and will of course be a leading speaker at the upcoming Values Voter Summit.

Yesterday on Washington Watch, Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins commended Cruz and his allies for instigating the government shutdown: “I think they are acting heroic, I think they are heroes. They are along the lines of the patriots who founded this nation, they are standing up to the liberal press and to the naysayers and to the RINOs and saying, ‘No we’re not going along with it any longer, we’re going to try and use what ability we have to save this country.’”

As the shutdown loomed, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network hailed Cruz as a leader in the vein of George Washington (or Tom Cruise), because of his fight to defund Obamacare: “All of this feels like Mission Impossible but didn’t George Washington and a few of his Founding Fathers colleagues face incredibly challenging odds too? This has been done before. Nobody said it would be easy. Look at it this way: At least principled constitutional conservative Ted Cruz is leading the way instead of movie star Tom Cruise. Now that would definitely be Mission Impossible.”

Brody also praised Cruz and “Tea Party constitutional conservatives” for viewing the fight against Obamacare as a “political and moral principle worth dying for even if it means the temporary death of their political party, and for that they should be commended. Kind of reminds you of the great founding patriots of this country.”

Watch at the 17:45 mark:

Bryan Fischer, a longtime fan who likened the Texas Senator to the Prophet Elijah, yesterday called the GOP dogmatists “Teddie and the Cruzers,” telling listeners that “you cannot overestimate the role of Ted Cruz, it shows you how one man with courage can make a huge difference in one happens politically.”