Use to be a time when it came to foreign affairs the leaders largely deferred so we speak with just one voice. The debates were in private. Of course there wasn't cameras and social media everywhere then.
As to the senator in question, 5 years ago I really liked him. He was a bright light . Then he calculated what he had to do to politically survive, and sold all integrity. My other former favorite in FL did the exact same thing. Two bright "leaders", who were among our best who IMO irreparably turned into pretzels twisted jokes instead of showing spine when the country and their political party needed truth the most.