If by coddle you mean "show them that there is some public support for their views", yes. Read some of Lincoln early speeches on the topics of desegregation and miscegenation, to see whether he is influenced by public opinion. Heck, they're SUPPOSED to be influenced by public opinion. Citizens have a job too, and it's more than voting, especially given how few elections are competitive.

As for not having the courage of your convictions, and failing to live by your words, well, Jefferson rather puts Durbin to shame on that front.

I would agree that Durbin has not shown himself the equal of Lincoln, Gandhi, King, Jefferson, Washington. But you know, we're lucky to get one of those in a generation, and they have a disconcerting tendency to get assassinated. There's a quote about the 1968 from Pete Hamill which says, essentially: citizens can't just wait around for a hero on a white horse, because when they do he gets shot off it.

What Durbin is, is one of the best Democrats in the U.S. Senate.