But does Cruz really run the House conservative caucus? Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who’s been in the Senate since 1997, did plenty of whipping and case-building of his own. Betsy Woodruff confirms what I’ve heard about Sessions bringing Alabama’s House delegation on board; Rep. Mo Brooks became one of the House conservatives most ready to explain why it wasn’t worth passing a compromise bill. Cruz played a role, but the Republican opposition to a flimsy “hey, we did something” bill did not need to be taught.

The Cruz-as-puppetmaster storyline has a way of erasing other Republicans from these sorts of battles. In the winter of 2012, the most prominent conservative opponent of the U.N. disabilities treaty was probably Rick Santorum; he returned to the Senate and to the public debate to lobby colleagues against ratification.