McConnell Carefully Chooses His Battles

He dismisses the importance of the GOP having a singular leader, saying opposition parties almost never do until they pick a presidential nominee. Instead, he is focusing on next year's elections by looking to rally support for GOP ideas and by seeking candidates who can win key races.

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.

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.

After Obama unveiled his war spending bill in April, McConnell told other Republican senators he planned to focus on blocking the funding to close Guantanamo Bay. His colleagues weren't convinced at first.

"A lot of us were sitting there going, 'Well, whatever,' " said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). "But he really led by example. He talked about it and talked about it."

Senate Democrats eventually agreed with him on that issue, but they say the McConnell-led Republicans often seem more interested in blocking bills than passing them.

"Senator McConnell presides over a split caucus. Some of his members would rather play petty partisan politics than govern," said Rodell Mollineau, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). "Too often it's those voices of obstruction that drown out the other voices in his caucus."

McConnell portrays himself as an ally of the president when he agrees with him, such as Obama's strategy for the war in Afghanistan, but he doesn't mind being cast as an obstructionist, as he was a decade ago. McConnell has long filled one of the walls in his office with editorial cartoons that include him, and his staff says he particularly delights in the negative ones.

A recent cartoon by the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press shows two banners on a street corner. On the left is one with a picture of Obama's face and the word "HOPE" written below it. The other shows a scowling McConnell with the word "NOPE" below his face.

"Anybody who is in the minority is accused of obstruction. It's a fairly common charge," McConnell said. "I may be Darth Vader to some groups, but to a lot of others I'm Luke Skywalker."