Democrats are being forced to reckon with the uncomfortable reality that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) decision to step down has placed them in.

No one in the Democratic Party would claim to be a great fan of McConnell, but his departure as the top Senate Republican puts them in a bind. Democrats have long made McConnell a boogeyman, vilifying him for everything from blocking former President Barack Obama’s nomination of current Attorney General Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to refusing to hold former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial until after he left office.