Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who is out promoting his second book in as many years, has gotten into a flame war with Sean Hannity, who he identifies as one of the purveyors of rage on the airways and who he blames for contributing to the coarsening of our national discourse. Hannity has responded as one might expect, as the front page of his website is declaring ” Ben goes Berserk” and he’s torching Sasse on Twitter as a ” con artist and phony.” Sasse, meanwhile, has challenged Hannity to a debate on neutral ground.

I come to this issue from a bit of a different angle. I think that as a senator, Sasse has amassed a generally conservative voting record. Though he has been a harsh critic of Trump, his criticisms have typically involved rhetoric, tone, or issues such as trade that are within the bounds of traditional conservative philosophy. He voted for the tax bill, to repeal Obamacare, and supported Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal. Lincoln Chafee he is not. As a Trump critical conservative myself, I can sympathize with many if not most of the positions Sasse has taken.

All of this having been said, I still can’t understand one thing: Why does Sasse want to be in the U.S. Senate? No, seriously, I mean it. I’m not asking this facetiously. I really don’t understand. And based on private conversations I’ve had with other conservatives who are otherwise inclined to admire him, I am not alone in being perplexed.