We all do @GrouchoTex I'm not quite sure what the constant arguing is about fiscal responsibility. There is nothing unique or sacred about @roamer_1 's fiscal "principles" --- or any of them. We all share them.
I think where the split starts is some of the most conservative "principled" confuse substance with style and policies with labels. Another split I see is the "principled" are content to do nothing but wait for the embodiment of all principles to appear center stage while others will try to move the needle by feet instead of waiting for a quantum leap. If the socialists have taught us anything, it should be to keep moving, even if by inches.
So, IMO, this endless debate on principle is really one of strategy. I've said before (and caught hell for it) that politics is a blood sport. It takes guts, willpower, elbows, shoulders and at times, fists. "Bullies" in politics are the movers and shakers; they are the heroes who affect change and get things done -- on both sides of the proverbial aisle.
Politics also needs a desire to win. Taking one's marbles home when a candidate isn't a purist is the surest way to lose this country, forever, to the Marxists; and this is where and when all "principles" will die.
Marxism would be terrible indeed.
Yet we are and have been in this quasi-socialism for quite some time, with will participants on "both sides of the proverbial aisle".
They do vote in ways that control production in this country, not quite ownership, but they do control the means of production far too often.
I'll give you one example where our side got what it wanted, for the military:
When the B1 bomber was being proposed, the manufacturers went before congress with a map, showing all the congressional districts.
They pointed out where a piece of that bomber, some small, some large, would be manufactured in each congressional district.
Was that the most cost-effective way to manufacture it?
No, all those pieces had to travel somewhere to be assembled.
Did ensure that they would get approval?
Of course, every congressman could then go home and say they brought jobs to the district, even though it wound up costing the taxpayers (us) more to build than it should have.
So, like you, I vote for the lesser of the two evils, and will continue, hoping to vote for the one that may make the incremental change, and while there have been exceptions, it has been pretty disappointing at times. It is hard for me to place the blame on the "principled" because they are getting tired of Lucy pulling out the football every time. It is their right to vote, or not, and they have to live with the consequences of not voting unless they are sold on a candidate, just like you or I have to when we get it wrong.