Quote from piezoe:
You have a good point, and Tao made a similar point, I believe.. Because there are so many safe House districts due to gerrymandering, I think it would be easy to overestimate the damage a shutdown could do to the Republicans in the House. That may explain some of the difference between Senate and House Republicans -- Senators have to answer to a wider electorate.
I do think that if the shutdown really stats to hurt, some of those House districts may not be quite so safe. Should there not be a timely extension of the debt limit and a delay on Social Security Checks, all bets are off. I'd be scared to death of that were I a Republican House member.