It's unfortunate that those with sincere beliefs get swooped up into the machinations of those just interested in power. The near-term benefits of the deal are too hard to resist, I suppose.
Yes, he has advanced in his political development. At the outset he imagined that politicians must appear to have principles and beliefs about law and policy benefitting the whole citizenry.
In his middle years he thought it was better to keep any principles out of sight, and just display energy in favor of policies that benefitted only his target electorate.
Eventually he came to the full realization that not only was it inadvisable to display principles, it was actually beneficial to show that he had none at all; and further, that hurting people his voters did not like is far more effective than helping any voters, even his own.
It's unfortunate that those with sincere beliefs get swooped up into the machinations of those just interested in power. The near-term benefits of the deal are too hard to resist, I suppose.
Fun fact: McConnell used to be pro choice.
Yes, he has advanced in his political development. At the outset he imagined that politicians must appear to have principles and beliefs about law and policy benefitting the whole citizenry.
In his middle years he thought it was better to keep any principles out of sight, and just display energy in favor of policies that benefitted only his target electorate.
Eventually he came to the full realization that not only was it inadvisable to display principles, it was actually beneficial to show that he had none at all; and further, that hurting people his voters did not like is far more effective than helping any voters, even his own.
I'm guessing you've already read Alec MacGillis's book. Looking forward to the upcoming Ira Shapiro one.