Jamelle Bouie:
Is Mitch McConnell the Worst?: I think most people can agree that Kentucky's Mitch McConnell is one of the most innovative Senate Minority Leaders in recent memory. His insight--that the opposition party can obstruct and force the majority party to bear the public’s discontent--helped give Republicans a House majority in 2010, and gave the GOP a fighting chance in this year’s presidential election…. In the real world… Barack Obama won reelection and Democrats expanded their majority in the Senate….
Republicans won a durable House majority. At the same time, they lost two shots at winning the Senate, a shot at winning the presidency, and a shot at greatly weakening the core Democratic legislative achievements of the last four years--the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank. And McConnell’s strategy of categorical obstruction played a part in each failure…. McConnell’s decision to never work with the other side helped create candidates like Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell, who--in 2010--sunk the GOP’s chance at taking both chambers of Congress…. If I were a conservative interested in conservative policy outcomes--and not just blind rage against liberals--I’d want McConnell gone.
