“Just one question. When has Rand Pauls strategy ever paid off for his constituents?”
Fair question - and I don’t have an answer. My adult children and I used to have this debate about Rand’s father - and I took your position.
I raised my kids as constitutional conservatives but they went one step further and rejected both major parties except Ron Paul who they trusted.
I used to make RR’s argument that 80% of what you want is better than nothing. Their rebuttal was that it’s nowhere near 80% - it’s more like 0% because the RINOs are no different than the Dems.
It’s funny - what we were arguing about specifically was my belief that they should hold their noses like I did, and vote for McCain and later Romney - I was SURE any Republican would be better than Obama.
Now I’m not so sure.
I can answer my own question. All Paul’s strategy does is burnish his moral superiority. He has never swayed the Senate in his direction.
If the purpose of electing a senator is to give them a pedestal upon which to preen, Paul is doing his job to perfection. If it’s so that he/she can actually enact legislation that helps the constituents, Paul is a miserable failure.