Being right is no consolation for losing. Ask those principled Aholes in Washington State how they feel their interests are being served by Senator Cantwell.
Net gain of one in 02, means the Senate will be ramrodding steadily more conservative judges to higher and higher courts. No blue slips, no character assassinations. That is called Effecting REAL CHANGE. What you and the others are doing, and hiding behind principle is called POSING.
Ah yes, I like that justification. "The Founders needed their guns for protection, but in this day and age we live in a safe society."
You are the one posing. As an American, when what you really are is a Republican. And damn, that is soooo sad.
Screw your strategy, it sucks anyway. The best strategy would be to be a hero and a man, not a power lover. He would be re-elected in a landslide, even by Dems, but you armchair strategists don't get it.
Or, He could have just done it because it was the right thing to do, not to mention honorable. He sucks, and so do people who apologise for him.
The experiment failed, the patient died.