Sarah Palin: Ted Cruz, Mike Lee Are The 'Brave Men Who Tried To Do Something'

Hours away from a potential government shutdown, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) lauded her Tea Party colleagues for their efforts over the past few weeks.

In an op-ed for Breitbart, Palin credited Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) as the "brave men who tried to do something."

"Ted Cruz and Mike Lee fought to fulfill the campaign promises every Republican made, and their actions have been revelatory for all of us," Palin wrote.

Palin has stood by Cruz and Lee during the Obamacare-government shutdown debate. After Cruz turned in a 21-hour address against the Affordable Care Act earlier this week, Palin coined him one of the leaders of a "third party" called the "good guys."

"That's the third party," Palin said. "Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, some of these guys working so extremely hard for, again, standing strong on what used to be the planks of the Republican platform. Those are the players in the party whom I will support."

Palin circled back to the GOP's future in the Breitbart commentary, closing with a warning that "2014 is just around the corner."

"Support those who do us a favor by flushing out politicians wanting to hide," Palin wrote. "Retrieving liberty must be the point in all this."

A HuffPost/YouGov poll released Saturday found mixed feelings for Cruz's speech, with a huge lean of support from the Republican side of the aisle. Of the 1,000 adults sampled, 41 percent saw it as an unnecessary political stunt, while 32 percent viewed it as a good way of making an important point. Of Republicans surveyed, 69 percent saw the latter point of view.