“.... a pedestal upon which to preen [or] enact legislation that helps the constituents....”
Straw man. You are presenting a false choice - nobody elects a Senator to preen - we all want honest representation and legislation that protects our rights.
But reasonable people can disagree on whether a “take what you can get” approach to legislation works better than a strictly principled approach.
The GOPe has been trying “take what you can get” with the Rats for decades and have lost ground in every transaction - and muddied the waters to boot. You can’t tell one side from the other because the GOPe are so eager to compromise.
The strictly principled approach may not fare much better, but it has the advantage of one side at least speaking the unvarnished truth.
I’m tired of both parties lying through their teeth, one in the name of “social justice”, and the other in the name of “take what you can get” - both parties have been corrupted by special interest lobbies.
I find it refreshing when a Republican refuses to play the compromise game.
‘The GOPe has been trying “take what you can get” with the Rats for decades’
This is simply not true. For at least eight years the GOP gave Obama everything he wanted. Occasionally they gave him even more than he actually asked for. Before Obama, the globalists under the guise of the Uniparty worked against conservatives full time. At no point did they take what they could get. They gave away the store and relished doing so.
There is nothing refreshing about Paul joining with the Democrats and uber-leftist GOP to stick us with Obamacare forever. It’s pig headed, self-stroking and asinine. You can’t hide betrayal under a cloak of ‘principles.’ At some point adults need to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.