> Seems more likely that he was simply pandering to both sides, and/or trying to dodge responsibility for a position altogether
No, it's explicitly a sarcastic parody of his fellow politicians behavior that he gave at the end of his only term in office on the floor of the legislature to his fellow members, not to pander to constituents. It was essentially a convoluted way to call his peers a pack of idiots and invite them to kiss his ass.
He was a cagey legal mind without a lot of patience for idiots, and he notes his amusement with the fact that half of his peers in the legislature heartily applauded the first half, and the other half heartily applauded the last half, and each half hated the other.
No, it's explicitly a sarcastic parody of his fellow politicians behavior that he gave at the end of his only term in office on the floor of the legislature to his fellow members, not to pander to constituents. It was essentially a convoluted way to call his peers a pack of idiots and invite them to kiss his ass.
He was a cagey legal mind without a lot of patience for idiots, and he notes his amusement with the fact that half of his peers in the legislature heartily applauded the first half, and the other half heartily applauded the last half, and each half hated the other.