Mitch McConnell, now 65 and in his fourth term, waited patiently to achieve his ambition — to lead his party in the Senate.
Now that he’s in charge, Kentucky Republican McConnell is widely hailed as the most effective GOP leader in years because he’s earned the loyalty of fellow Republicans, occasionally cooperates with Democrats and understands the arcane inner rules of the chamber. Republicans credit him with unlikely victories that have picked up their spirits after crushing losses in the November elections.
Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war, McConnell managed to block a resolution condemning President Bush’s proposal to send more troops. And he came within one vote of defeating the Democratic war-spending bill that contains a timetable for withdrawal. He dubbed it a “surrender date” and got all but one Republican to vote against the bill.
Jim Manley, spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he’s “still puzzling over how Senator McConnell has kept his caucus together as it goes over a cliff. He’s very effective.”
McConnell is also credited with attaching tax cuts for small businesses and modest pork limits to must-pass Democratic legislation.
“Mitch is a great tactician and he has great instincts,” Sen. Jon Kyl, R- Ariz, said.
McConnell didn’t expect to be leading the minority party. Early last year, Democratic hopes for a takeover were dim. Even Reid predicted it would take a miracle.
McConnell blames the GOP’s six-seat loss on the war.
“It’s the reason you’re looking at the Republican leader and not the majority leader,” he said in an interview with The Examiner.
Asked if Republicans in Congress could be blamed for lax oversight of the war, McConnell replied: “In retrospect, some could argue that we might have changed directions quicker.”
McConnell has spent most of the past decade in the majority. His reputation among colleagues has been enhanced by his willingness to take on highly unpopular issues on principle.
At a time when there was broad bipartisan support for campaign finance reform, McConnell adamantly opposed it because, he said, it squelched free speech. He pushed that fight all the way to the Supreme Court. On the same grounds, he opposes the perennial effort by Republicans to ban burning the American flag. Last year, McConnell cast the deciding vote to kill a constitutional amendment that would have authorized Congress to make it a crime.
McConnell is known for his loyalty, which was never more pronounced than when former Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., came under fire for making racially insensitive remarks. As second in command, McConnell could have easily deposed him and grabbed the top spot, but instead he fought hard but in vain to save Lott, who now has returned to be McConnell’s No. 2.
He also has remained true to the president, unlike many Republicans who were furious that Bush didn’t replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld until after the GOP suffered huge electoral losses.
Asked if the timing of Rumsfeld’s departure upset him, McConnell sat silent with a pleasant but utterly blank look on his face, as if the question had not been asked. Pressed, he finally replied: “Well, regardless, clearly we’re heading in a different direction.”
