In most democracies, a stubborn minority party cannot stop the majority from debating the nation’s worst problems, much less solving them. McConnell’s sustained commitment to stopping Democratic priorities, whatever the cost, has deepened the dysfunction that makes many Republican voters doubt the efficacy of government in the first place. He’s at a point in life when he’s starting to think about his legacy. Leaving for Washington, he recalls being mobbed at the airport in Kentucky: “People were lined up three and four deep all the way to the gate.” But how will history view him? Maybe that’s why I was allowed in recently. The epilogue of his book includes a scene after the 2014 midterms that elevated him to majority leader. In cheeky defiance, McConnell has framed copies of their work hanging on his office walls. of McConnell’s memoir lays out his unsentimental view of the news media: “I only talk to the press if it’s to my advantage.” Editorial cartoonists heap disdain on him. I’d asked for the interview but was somewhat surprised it happened. Like a lot of reporters’, my only real impression of McConnell was that of a career politician with a somnolent baritone focused on amassing power and keeping it. For that matter, I’d never seen him smile in person. I’ve been watching the Senate Republican leader through three administrations, and until that moment, I’d never heard him laugh. “We try to beat each other on a daily basis.” At that, he laughed. “This is friendly combat!” McConnell told me. The times feel uniquely dangerous, warranting unified governmental action. The night before, someone had planted pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in Washington. A mob breached the Capitol on January 6, hunting for elected officials to kill. “The offensive coordinator has a better chance to score.” But for many Americans, rarely has politics been less of a game. “If you’re a football fan, it’s like the difference between being the offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator,” McConnell told me. He’s won and lost and is now aiming to recapture his old title of Senate majority leader in the 2022 midterm elections. “I’m not going anywhere,” he told reporters in Kentucky back in March.įor McConnell, politics is sport. Come 2023, he will have spent 16 years at the top, which would surpass the record set by former Democratic Senate Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana. He was pushing 65 when his colleagues first elevated him to Republican leader. McConnell’s 2016 memoir is called The Long Game.
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