You have much more “leverage” with a member of your own party (even a whacked out liberal member!) then someone of the other party!
(Leverage = committee chairmanship, assignments, etc. and it has always been this way! There never was a “Golden Age” of selfless politics!)
This is where we often shoot ourselves in the foot!
We get “control” of a house of the legislature but because of “purity” desires we won’t do what’s necessary to keep enough members to have votes to actually impose “our will”.
I’ll take 25% of “our will” over zero! Next phase work for 50%, then next phase 75% and so on!
That's worked really well these last 8 years fighting Obama, hasn't it?