re: #67 lawhawk

It’s the so-called principled stand… They knew it was passing, but wanted to show displeasure over funding the boondoggle wall. That’s also even as they fund other aspects of govt to keep it from being shut down.

Strategically, not great.

This is why it is usually difficult for a Senator to get elected president — too many difficult votes to maintain the purity that too many voters think is too important.

Obama was a rare exception to this rule, likely because he got it right on his most significant Senate vote (against the Iraq war).

Edited to add: Oops. Got it wrong. The Iraq vote was done before Obama was a Senator.