President Obama defaulted to his usual strategy Tuesday of denouncing Republicans for the partial government shutdown that began at midnight even as he refuses to negotiate. He's betting that his bully pulpit, amplified by his media echoes, will cause the GOP to blink first.

And the truth is that Mr. Obama and the GOP's own "defund ObamaCare" caucus have put Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans in a difficult spot. If they now surrender empty-handed, their Ted Cruz faction will denounce them as sellouts. But...