McConnell's stock surges after big win in Massachusetts

Jan 23, 2010 — The Hill

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is walking with a spring in his step these days and even smiling a bit.

The Democrats no longer hold a filibuster-proof majority in the chamber and their sweeping healthcare overhaul, which seemed destined for President Barack Obama’s signature a few weeks ago, is now in dire straits.

McConnell’s colleagues credit his leadership for keeping Republicans united against the plan and stalling it long enough to prevent final action ahead of the Massachusetts special election.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the GOP presidential candidate in 2008, is among those calling him the party leader. Conservative activist Grover Norquist say McConnell deserves to be named the party’s Most Valuable Player.

“He has one of the most important qualities and that is his incredible patience,” said McCain.

McConnell prefers to think of himself as the party’s “choir director.”

“As the choir director, I’m trying to get everyone in the same direction,” said McConnell. “In the Senate, there’s a tendency for some members to sing off key.”

The usually somber leader sounded almost giddy when he welcomed fellow senators back into session on Jan. 20, a day after Scott Brown won the Senate seat that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) held for 46 years. Photographers captured him smiling broadly as he strolled alongside Brown.

What a difference a year makes, when McConnell had barely survived a tough reelection and was among those blamed for losing seats. Some on Capitol Hill believed that if Republicans took another drubbing in 2010, McConnell's position as GOP leader would be in jeopardy.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after the 2008 election highlighted the leadership vacuum atop the GOP by suggesting that radio host Rush Limbaugh was the de facto Republican leader.

But now, Senate Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the mid-term elections, which would solidify McConnell's standing. When reminded of that period after the 2008 election, McCain did not hesitate to say that McConnell is the party leader.

“Obviously he spends a lot of time with the members and is inclusive so that when we decide on a course of action we can get nearly everyone on board.”

Only a month ago, conservatives had criticized McConnell for not using every parliamentary procedure available to slow the Democratic healthcare bill.

But McConnell kept Senate Republicans in lock-step opposition to the healthcare bill and forced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to strike controversial deals with centrists in his own conference that may prove to be the legislation’s undoing.

McConnell said voters in Massachusetts rallied against the healthcare bill not only because it contained a “half trillion in Medicare cuts but also because of the way it was done.”

“The other side resorted to a lot of unseemly tactics such as special sweetheart deals,” he said.

Most prominently, Reid struck a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) that would have the federal government pick up 100 percent of the cost of future Medicaid expansion in Nebraska. (The Senate bill has the government covering only 90 percent of Medicaid increases in other states.)

Reid also offered $300 million in extra federal funds for Louisiana to pick up the support of centrist Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Critics began calling the deals the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase”, both of them attracting negative attention.

Rattled by the Massachusetts special election, some House Democrats have balked at passing the Senate bill because of these deals, which lawmakers think would subject them to criticism in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

The special deals were necessary, however, because McConnell kept his caucus unified despite months of efforts by Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to woo just one Republican to support the bill.

At the top of the list was Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who supported the Finance Committee bill.

Had Reid lost a single member of his conference, the Senate could not have passed a comprehensive bill.

But Reid, Baucus and Obama failed to win Snowe's support. Throughout the courtship, McConnell never publicly criticized the Maine senator.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a potential 2012 presidential candidate, said McConnell stands out because of the importance of the Senate as an obstacle to Obama’s agenda.

“Partly because the Senate is the last line of defense, people really look to him,” Thune said.

Thune also gave credit to House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for keeping Republicans in the lower chamber unified against the House Democratic healthcare bill.

But Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, which hosts a weekly meeting of conservative activists, said that McConnell had the tougher job because Republican senators have a long history of bucking the party.

“It’s very important to keep Republican fingerprints off of bad legislation,” said Norquist. “You needed the Senate and House Republicans to hold together.”

Norquist said it’s easier to herd GOP lawmakers in the House because they come from gerrymandered districts with high concentrations of Republican voters. He said Republican senators represent states with high numbers of liberals and independents and often sign onto bad bills in the belief their influence can make it better.

“But having a bill that is only 75-percent bad isn’t good either and some senators don’t seem to understand that,” Norquist said.

Other conservatives are not ready to give McConnell so much credit.

“Who’s the national leader for the Republican party? There isn’t one and it’s a great thing,” said Brian Darling of the conservative Heritage Foundation. “I wouldn’t say Limbaugh or McConnell or [former Alaska Gov. Sarah] Palin is the leader of the Republican Party.”

Darling said the lack of a dominant party leader is a good thing because “different ideas can come to the forefront.”

Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of RedState.com, an influential conservative blog, dismissed the notion of McConnell as leader of the greater Republican Party.

Erickson noted that Boehner kept the entire House GOP conference unified in opposition to the $787 economic stimulus package last year while McConnell allowed three Republicans to defect. (One, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa) became a Democrat two months later.)

“I think the Republican Party is factionalized,” he said.

While Erickson acknowledged that McConnell may be the leader of the GOP establishment in Washington, he said that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are considered leaders of the conservative movement and Palin is the leader of “anti-establishment” Republicans.

Palin has emerged as the leader of self-described pro-life and pro-family Republicans while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) have attracted economics-focused conservatives.

Erickson argued that McConnell has not taken a strong enough stance against the “creeping growth” of government, noting that McConnell has been slow to take up the call to make repealing Democrat-passed healthcare reform the first order of business if Republicans reclaim Congress.

But while the Republican and conservative rank-and-file have formed splinter groups across the country, they are unified in the Senate, at least. Without that unity, Democrats would not be scrambling to save a massive healthcare reform bill that appears in critical condition.

“He’s the acknowledged leader and played the key role,” said McCain, the last politician who attempted to unify Republicans across the country.

McConnell said his secret is to listen to colleagues’ concerns.

“A big part of this job is just listening,” McConnell said.