WHEN REPUBLICAN THOM Tillis packs up his Senate office in January to return to North Carolina, he’ll be taking with him a collection of elephant statues that greets visitors. There’s one dressed as a circus clown. A pink elephant. A mama elephant snuggling with her baby. One of his favorites has its legs draped over the edge of a shelf, eyes rolled up, looking tired and relaxed. Tillis calls it “laid-back elephant” and sees himself spiritually in the same pose. “Do I get intense? Of course. But