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In last week’s heavily watched Republican presidential debate (22.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in CNN history), few moments emerged from the three-hour talkfest as sharply as against Planned Parenthood.

“As regards Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes,” said Fiorina, her theatrical delivery steeped in contempt. “Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.”

Trouble is, what she alleges is on the infamous videotape is not there, as highly regarded and and have reported in the days since the debate. Despite Politifact rating her claims “mostly false” and Planned Parenthood calling them Fiorina continues to , angrily claiming she’s seen the images and others haven’t bothered to watch the tapes.

But the veracity of Fiorina’s claims almost don’t matter, at this point. The controversial video, heavily edited by the that produced it, attempts to show Planned Parenthood involved in a discussion about for-profit organ procurement from aborted fetuses. As Civil Beat editorialized recently, it has become a potent symbol for the tea party crowd and those, such as Fiorina, who seek to exploit that demographic’s passion.

The idea that such a venomous rebuke of Planned Parenthood would come from a well-educated, professionally successful woman — characteristics of the organization’s typical core supporters — gives it even more political impact. One expects such vitriol from a Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal or Rick Santorum. But the Stanford-educated former CEO of Hewlett Packard?

Far from hurting her, Fiorina seems to have only been helped by her screed. A  conducted in the three days following the debate and released Sunday showed Fiorina’s support spiking to 15 percent, up from 3 percent just 1½ weeks prior.

Two days after Fiorina’s comments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure along party lines that would freeze all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Mark Takai were among 187 who wisely voted against the measure, but 241 members supported the bill, passing it with plenty of room to spare. And that was but one of several current pieces of legislation in the House and Senate, all aimed at stripping Planned Parenthood funds from the budget, further restricting abortion access, or both.

The political environment nurtured by Fiorina’s comments and related dynamics pushes the government ever closer to a shutdown, as there isn’t enough time to pass any of the 12 federal spending bills, and the “” nature of the Planned Parenthood disagreement will make it highly difficult to pass a continuing resolution temporarily funding the government.

The shutdown would have immediate impacts for Hawaii and for the thousands of federal workers who live here. Honolulu is the economic engine that drives Hawaii, and our city is the second-most reliant in the country on federal paychecks.

Other impacts are less apparent, but still significant. Example: Because Hawaii’s colleges and universities serve significant numbers of military personnel and their dependents who use federal support to cover their tuition costs, they suffer significant disruption when those students unexpectedly decide to skip an academic term, unsure whether their tuition checks will arrive.

While the Senate is likely more able and than the House, that may be damning with faint praise, as it’s not yet known whether Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can keep the Senate in line. If he or House Speaker John Boehner seek to pass a continuing resolution without majority support from the majority party, they’d face vindictive anger from party colleagues, not to mention heavy-duty Democratic demands in exchange for the minority party’s help.

Along with Gabbard and Takai in the House, delegation colleagues Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono are doing what they can in the Senate to keep the government open for business. But their efforts won’t be nearly enough to overcome elected extremists who are salivating over the chance to shut things down and who point to their party’s success in last year’s elections as proof that the 2013 shutdown didn’t cost them a thing.

It’s tough to argue with that logic. In 2o14, the GOP retook the Senate and gained 16 seats in the House, despite bearing most of the responsibility for that similarly contrived and wholly avoidable shutdown.

Whether voters will be as forgiving this time remains to be seen. The train officially runs off the tracks in eight days, with the fortunes of 300 million Americans in tow. Is there a leader or leadership group with the character, force of personality and knowledge of process to prevent that? Highly doubtful, but with the clock ticking, let’s hope someone surprises us.