Obama misses McConnell in phone call
President Obama wasn’t able to connect with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Wednesday night to congratulate him on Republicans winning control of the Senate.
But Vice President Biden was.
{mosads}The president attempted to call McConnell sometime between 12:30 and 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning, McConnell aides told Time magazine, but the minority leader had already departed campaign headquarters.
Biden, a veteran of the Senate, called about an hour earlier and was able to connect with the Kentucky Republican.
White House officials said the president left a message for McConnell, and the two are expected to chat at some point on Wednesday. They’ll also see each other on Friday at a meeting of the congressional leadership at the White House.
According to the White House, the president was able to connect with 25 elected officials Tuesday night and was continuing outreach efforts throughout Friday.
Only one call — to Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) — was a conversation with a Democrat unseated in Tuesday evening’s landslide.
But calls with Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), now expected to become minority leader, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Michael Bennet (Colo.), and Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) were likely an opportunity for congressional Democrats to vent frustrations with the White House.
Reid’s chief of staff blasted the administration’s influence on the election in an interview with the Washington Post published Tuesday, saying the White House was too protective of Obama’s donors and that the botched implementation of ObamaCare badly bruised Democratic incumbents.
Obama’s outreach included calls to five governors or governors-elect and three House Democrats. The rest of the calls provided by the White House were senators or senators-elect.
Here’s a full list of the president’s calls:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.)
Sen.-elect Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
Sen.-elect Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
Sen.-elect Gary Peters (R-Mich.)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
Gov.-elect Tom Wolf (D-Pa.)
Sen.-elect James Lankford (R-Okla.)
Sen.-elect Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
Rep.-elect Seth Moulton (D-Mass.)
Gov. Robert Bentley (R-Ala.)
Gov. Bill Haslam (R-Tenn.)
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