In recent weeks, the polls of U.S. Senate races have been almost uniformly bad for the Republicans, and it’s now looking conceivable that they could lose nearly ten seats. But one Republican senator doesn’t need to worry. Ben Sasse of Nebraska is running virtually unopposed. For months the Democratic Party asked their nominee, Chris Janicek, to drop out of the race after it was revealed that he’d sent sexually explicit emails about his campaign fundraiser to a group that included her. Janicek refused, and the Democrats are waging a hopeless write-in effort. Even in the best of times, it would be a long shot for the Democrats to knock an incumbent Republican senator in Nebraska, but they stand absolutely zero chance of accomplishing that in 2020.

I believe this is why Sen. Sasse feels free to mouth off about Donald Trump to his own constituents. Unlike many of his endangered colleagues, he doesn’t need to worry that getting sideways of the president will lose him critical support from the Republican base.

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, in a private call with constituents, excoriated President Trump, saying he had mishandled the coronavirus response, “kisses dictators’ butts,” “sells out our allies,” spends “like a drunken sailor,” mistreats women, and trash-talks evangelicals behind their backs.

Trump has “flirted with white supremacists,” according to Sasse, and his family “treated the presidency like a business opportunity.”

In what appears to be a conference call with his Nebraska constituents, Sasse said Trump could drive the Senate into the hand of the Democrats and cause permanent damage to the Republican Party. It is unclear when the call occurred, though it had to have happened well into this year because Sasse discusses Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

If unburdened by political considerations and constraints, I believe most Republican senators would offer a similar assessment of Trump’s performance and character. It would probably be almost unanimous except that GOP politicians also have to consider their cultural environment and any post-congressional earning potential they might have.

When you live among true fire-breathing conservatives who feed on right-wing media day and night, it can be uncomfortable to step outside of the bubble, and you might not be welcomed back in. Likewise, if you become known as a critic of a Republican president, you might not have conservatives lining up to line your pockets after you retire or lose an election.

People on the left can certainly face these same cross-pressures, although it often seems like it’s more lucrative to be a left-wing critic of the Democrats than a fan-boy or even a straight-shooter. We saw a whiff of the problem when Bill Clinton was impeached. It was hard to criticize Clinton without seeming to aid the Republicans’ disproportional response. My reaction was basically to defend him against removal from office while pledging never to put any trust in him again. But that was small potatoes compared to what Republicans face with Trump. Clinton was an otherwise decent president and certainly excellent in certain respects. He also was blessed to have truly odious enemies.

One day, the Democrats will have a president who has clearly lost or never had what it takes to serve in the position, and they’ll see what it feels like to weigh country against all the political fights they hold dear. Hopefully, they’ll do a better job than this current crop of Republicans in realizing that you can’t ultimately make political progress if you’re simultaneously acquiescing in the ruination of the whole country.