In most countries, suicide is not illegal.
It is recognised that a free-thinking person can make their own choices, even the ultimate choice.
The same goes in lobbying. People can choose to commit to steps that amount to political suicide.
It’s quite common and often performed in public. It is never a pleasant spectacle.
A Political Death-Knell
There are tell-tale signs of this frame of mind.
The most obvious is when someone starts talking about “fighting for the principle”.
They’ll often speak in terms of “total war and total victory”, or “no surrender”. These words are the political death knell of near-certain defeat.
The truth is this comes from armchair generals who have never fought, let alone won, any significant political battle. When your positions are mocked by your political allies it is time to see things for what they are. Armchair generals, and weekend political reservists, seem to revel in failure, and then descend into bizarre conspiracies to justify their defeat.
When the enemy is at the gates of the city, it is time to re-look at what is happening. When your political adversaries have overwhelming numbers – read votes – you may want to broker a peace agreement or stage a managed retreat. If you don’t, you are likely to be dealing with the rubble of unconditional surrender after the defeat.
A Pragmatist’s Path
The pragmatist will go for an incremental approach.
You often can on get part of what you want in a piece of legislation or decision. The day after adoption, you re-group, to get what you want, over time, and to defend the gains you secured. Those gains can easily be reversed.
So, the best way is to sober up and be realistic about what can be achieved. If you want spiritual or ideological purity, join a religious order or cult.
If you want to succeed, you need to build alliances across Europe and between political divides. You are best served by the strength of your arguments. The strongest arguments are those that appeal not to you, but rather to the people making and influencing the decisions. That’s the surest way to victory.