McConnell scoffs at Dem label

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says that Democratic hopes of tagging him with an “obstructionist” label will be fruitless, predicting that his party would be unscathed from the legislative deadlock on Capitol Hill.

In an interview with The Hill on Wednesday, the Kentucky Republican said that Democrats’ increasingly determined tactics to pin the blame on him and the GOP caucus for blocking change on issues ranging from spending, tax policy, healthcare, energy and the Iraq war would matter little in the outcome of the 2008 elections.

{mosads}“The public isn’t going to pay attention that much to all this finger-pointing,” McConnell said. “The way to get things done in the Senate is across the aisle.”

Instead, McConnell and his allies are banking that the fallout of historically low public approval ratings for Congress will fall squarely on the shoulders of a new Democratic majority falling short of its campaign promises.

“At the end of the day, the voters know who the majority is,” McConnell said. “And at the end of the day, they will hold the majority responsible.”

While McConnell appears on solid ground to win in 2008, Democrats are trying to capitalize on the senator’s sliding approval ratings in Kentucky. By bringing down a prominent party leader, similar to the way Republicans ousted former Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)

in 2004, they hope to send a message that the GOP will continually face minority status if it stalls the Democratic agenda.

“Every time they stop the wheels of progress … they are also making it a lot easier for us to gain more seats, which we need in the Senate,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “I think when Republicans obstruct, it’s going to hurt them from the minority leader on down to the freshmen.”

Even though McConnell has acknowledged that winning a fifth term in the 2008 election could be the hardest of his career, he does not appear to be worried about the Democratic attempts to characterize him as a roadblock. Democrats have not a recruited a top-tier challenger to McConnell.

“I’ve been able to accomplish a lot for my state,” McConnell said. “I’m perfectly happy to defend my record to the people of my state, who have elected me to the Senate four times, and I’m optimistic they’ll do it a fifth time.”

With a host of their favored bills fallen by the wayside, the war still being waged in Iraq, and the White House appearing likely to win high-profile battles on taxes and spending, Democrats are regularly trying to make Republican Senate candidates suffer in 2008 because of what they say is GOP intransigence.

Democrats took to the Senate floor Wednesday to attempt to clear popular bills on healthcare, veterans issues, civil rights, programs for the deaf and blind and a measure to address the housing crisis.

When Republicans refused to let the measures through, Democrats pounced.

“As the year comes to a close a— and the first year of the 110th Congress winds down — there is no doubt that if we continue in the current direction, this will be known as the Congress of Republican obstruction,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Republicans scoffed at the move, calling it a waste of precious floor time and a way to stifle true debate about the substance of the measures. But they countered with their own requests for unanimous consent on a number of other measures, including tax relief to troops, a means to prevent the government from shutting down if the budget impasse cannot be resolved and emergency border security funding.

The debate, while producing no legislation, allowed Republicans to continue their attacks on a “do-nothing” Congress and gave Democrats the opportunity to portray the GOP as the party of obstruction.

After the debate, Senate Democrats went before the television cameras to decry GOP “obstructionism.” They said in just one year, the GOP is three shy of the 2001-’02 record of 61 filibusters, a procedural tool meant to control the floor unless 60 votes are secured to cut off debate.

“They’re filibustering themselves out of seats next November,” said Schumer, who was standing next to a large sign that stated, “Unprecedented Obstructionism, 58: Republican Filibusters and Counting.”

Republicans say the filibuster figure is inflated, since none have actually been carried out, and argue that Democratic leaders have repeatedly filed cloture to shut down debate prematurely, far before bills have been adequately voted on and have had a chance to be amended.

“They seem to be afraid of bad votes,” McConnell said in the interview. “They file early cloture to shut out the minority and all that does is unify the minority and make it more difficult to get things passed.”

McConnell’s allies predict they are on safe ground blocking Democratic bills.

“I don’t think there is any negative fallout from blocking a bad bill,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

While Congress continues to receive low poll ratings for its slow action, Republicans are at risk of being hit the hardest next November. In a poll last month by the Pew Research Center, 30 percent of people who believed Congress had accomplished less than usual blamed Republicans, while 26 percent said it was the Democrats’ fault. In the month before the 2006 elections, 59 percent blamed Republicans.

As the election season moves into full swing, both sides are trying to make that gap wider.