Political purists face a hard time in Raleigh

Good stuff from WSJ columnist Scott Sexton:

Forget illegal immigration and same-sex marriage bans for a moment.

Pragmatic Republican voters in the 31st and 45th districts ought to be asking themselves just how irrelevant they want their senators to be.

"Even with the Democrats in control, whoever wins those seats will factor in based upon their willingness and ability to compromise," said Bob Hall, the research director of Democracy North Carolina. "The Democrats will need allies across the aisle on different issues."