I find this sentiment both hypocritical and misleading.

It is hypocritical because all campaigning politicians assure us that they are deeply principled. "I believe this!" one candidate thunders. "I stand courageously for that!" another roars. If they are to be believed, they are uniquely immune to the temptations that lead lesser humans to sell out, trim and, well, compromise. In office, though, nearly all politicians compromise. "To get anything done in government," the politician explains, "requires compromise."

Of course, this politician is correct. Because there can be at any one time only one government policy on each issue — one schedule of tax rates, one military budget, one immigration policy — no politicians can successfully demand that lawmakers do exactly what they want. If every elected official did make such an inflexible demand, truly nothing would get done in government.

But it's misleading to suggest this outcome is necessarily bad. Perhaps on some fronts, government inaction would be unfortunate. Failure to fill the ninth seat on the U.S. Supreme Court might — might — worsen constitutional law over time. Yet would the republic really suffer if, say, failure to make budgetary appropriations prevents farmers from getting subsidy checks, or causes the Export-Import Bank to close? I think not. In fact, such results would be positively magnificent for the country at large.