Aaron Burr does exactly this throughout the play and is painted by Alexander Hamilton as an opportunist
He's painted as a loser. Can't win Washington's affection during the war. Can't break into one of the bigger rival gangs of Congress during the peace. Can't do populism hard enough - and when you come in second place, you can't even take the Runner-Up VP spot, because Jefferson's cronies are so quick to cheat you out of it.
(who then supports fucking Jefferson because “at least Jefferson has values he stands behind”)
Jefferson and Hamilton have a working relationship, as they're both in the Washington inner-circle. Burr helped build the Tammany Hall political machine on behalf of Jefferson, but never officially "got in the room". Possibly because Burr was still a Northeast finance guy, while all the Jefferson cronies were Planters. Also, possibly, because Burr flirted with Abolitionism in the NY State House. Also, possibly, because he was simply too "bipartisan" - courting friends in both nascent parties - to be palatable to either camp's inner ring.
For all the ways in which the high school history books focus on the Hamilton/Jefferson rivalry - and the play leans heavily into it - the Hamilton/Burr rivalry was at least as pivotal. In many ways, Burr was more Hamilton than Hamilton.
That said, he still did shit, which is more than any modern Democrat can claim. So I'd be loathe to compare Burr (or Hamilton or Jefferson or any of the "Founders") to the collection of polyps currently built up within DC's rectum.
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He's painted as a loser. Can't win Washington's affection during the war. Can't break into one of the bigger rival gangs of Congress during the peace. Can't do populism hard enough - and when you come in second place, you can't even take the Runner-Up VP spot, because Jefferson's cronies are so quick to cheat you out of it.
Jefferson and Hamilton have a working relationship, as they're both in the Washington inner-circle. Burr helped build the Tammany Hall political machine on behalf of Jefferson, but never officially "got in the room". Possibly because Burr was still a Northeast finance guy, while all the Jefferson cronies were Planters. Also, possibly, because Burr flirted with Abolitionism in the NY State House. Also, possibly, because he was simply too "bipartisan" - courting friends in both nascent parties - to be palatable to either camp's inner ring.
For all the ways in which the high school history books focus on the Hamilton/Jefferson rivalry - and the play leans heavily into it - the Hamilton/Burr rivalry was at least as pivotal. In many ways, Burr was more Hamilton than Hamilton.
That said, he still did shit, which is more than any modern Democrat can claim. So I'd be loathe to compare Burr (or Hamilton or Jefferson or any of the "Founders") to the collection of polyps currently built up within DC's rectum.