With Republicans out of the White House and outnumbered in Congress, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is shifting his role from behind-the-scenes fixer to party leader,” the Washington Post reports.
He has raised his public profile, appearing on more Sunday-morning television talk shows than almost any other member of Congress. He has cast himself as a man willing to work with President Obama when they agree on issues, although Democrats say they don’t much see evidence of his bipartisanship.
While other Republicans “attack Obama on nearly every issue, McConnell has persuaded his Senate colleagues to pick targeted, potentially winnable fights against the Democrats, such as the party’s current push to make sure health-care reform does not include a government-run insurance option.”
Facing Obama, McConnell concedes what he and his aides say is a basic reality: Republicans can’t battle the president on most issues when he announces his policy, since Obama is too popular and his staff is skilled at drawing positive coverage.
Instead, McConnell and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) have tried to negatively frame Obama’s ideas to voters by encouraging Republicans to repeat certain catchphrases, such as accusing Obama of a “government takeover” in his plans to restructure General Motors and Chrysler. The idea is to gradually build opposition to Obama’s proposals so they have less public support by the time Congress votes on them.
Senator McConnell has been good at picking an issue and sticking to it in floor speeches each week, as was evidenced by the Guantanamo Bay closure issue.
McConnell helped orchestrate one of the Republicans’ most convincing victories of the year: a 90 to 6 vote rejecting Obama’s plan to start closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and to move some of the detainees to U.S. soil. McConnell delivered the same speech on the Senate floor day after day during April and May, attacking the proposal and saying Obama had no idea how to implement it.
On the issue of the deficit, a series of polls in recent days has shown Americans’ anxiety rising about the increased spending stemming from the administration’s policies, another point McConnell and other GOP leaders have repeatedly highlighted.
“When you don’t have 41 members of the Senate and you don’t have a nominee for president or the presidency, it is difficult to compete,” McConnell said in a recent interview in his office. “You have to pick issues worth driving through the clutter. I think we have made some demonstrable headway.”
Although a conservative himself, McConnell is using his leadership position to push the party toward inclusion of more moderate candidates.
The longtime senator, elected in 1984, has actively recruited moderate candidates, such as Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, even though McConnell himself is one of the Senate’s most conservative members. He has repeatedly warned that the party must be tolerant of those who might hold more liberal views on some issues.
Moderate and conservative Republicans praise McConnell’s leadership; Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) echoed the words of many colleagues when she dubbed him a “good strategist.” They blame former president George W. Bush, not McConnell, for the party’s recent struggles in elections.
Congress in Your Pocket
