By ultimately voting in favor of President Trump’s emergency declaration, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., signaled that he’s thinking about his re-election in 2020. But in the process of doing so, he compromised his longer-term political prospects.

On the surface, the politics of Sasse’s vote makes sense. He is, after all, senator of a very conservative state and faces re-election in 2020. A vote to disapprove of Trump’s emergency declaration could easily be turned by a primary opponent into a vote against border security. By voting with Trump, he makes it less likely that any primary challenge would prove successful.

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