Does Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt want to be remembered for defending the GOP or Trump?

What will Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt do with the almost two years between now and his retirement?

We do not expect a different Roy Blunt to show up for work from now on.

At 71, he is unlikely to speak any more boldly or unequivocally than he ever has.

He’s not going to suddenly oppose his party’s voter suppression efforts, or take back his states-rights argument against removing statues honoring Confederate traitors from the U.S. Capitol.

We don’t even think there’s much point in hoping that he’ll take a clearer stand now on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

But he could support the non-Donald Trump Republican alternative as his successor.

He could stand up for the GOP of blessed memory that cared about at least some non-culture war issues, and was not allergic to working across the aisle.

He could try to make a difference in the crowded race to succeed him.

He talks a lot about his experience as a history teacher, and will not be indifferent as to how he’ll be remembered.

Right now, that will be as “Both-sides Blunt.”

He waited until December to acknowledge Joe Biden’s status as president-elect, but he was one of only two Missouri Republicans to oppose efforts to overturn the Electoral College when Congress met on Jan. 6.

Days after a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, he said “I think the president’s decisions and his actions that day and leading up to that day on this topic were clearly reckless. I said that very early in the evening on Wednesday, that this was a tragic day for the country and the president had some, had involvement in that.”

Then, he voted to acquit Trump at his impeachment trial anyway.

He’s someone who voted no on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, voted no on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation and voted yes on barring colleges that receive federal dollars from giving any preferential admissions consideration based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin.

Yet Blunt’s replacement may well be a second Josh Hawley. He could make that prospect at least somewhat less likely, and could play a key role in warning Republicans outside of Missouri about his clear misgivings about Missouri’s junior senator.

Or he could decide, as others have and others will, that it’s not worth limiting his earning power as a K Street lobbyist by taking any position that not everyone in his party will love.