Good post.
That said, one naturally wants to be able to do what one thinks one is called to do.
No one individual can fix the country.
The only individual who could on his own would be Christ, and given the state of the Church, however you define it, it seems fairly clear that His ways of fixing things usually aren’t our ways.
I have no problem with someone who votes entirely on principle, but in a legislative setting this will usually get you absolutely nowhere. You make your case and garner support among your fellow legislators, but at the end of the day you're voting up or down on any given piece of legislation. Voting against something just because "it isn't good enough" is about the dumbest thing you can possibly do in Washington. You end up always being in a tiny minority no matter which party controls Congress, and you're completely useless as a legislator.
Amash has spent his entire career in Congress painting himself into a corner. Now he can't figure out how to get out of the room.