Once-endangered Republican leader boosted by Brown’s triumph in Mass.

Resurgent Republican fortunes and this week’s election triumph in Massachusetts have cemented Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) once-shaky position atop the party.

Even the GOP’s most recent presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), now calls McConnell the party’s leader.

GOP heavyweights credit the minority leader with binding Republicans together in united opposition to President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, which now lies in disarray and is seen by may Democrats as an albatross around their necks as they head toward midterm elections in November.

{mosads}McCain identified the leader’s key political advantage, saying, “He has one of the most important qualities and that is his incredible patience.” Grover Norquist, an influential conservative activist, says McConnell deserves to be named the GOP’s most valuable player.

The usually somber McConnell, who has gained a spring in his step and even allowed himself a few outright smiles this past week, was almost giddy as he welcomed senators back into session Wednesday, the day after Scott Brown snatched the Senate seat that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) occupied for 46 years.

Twelve months during which Obama’s public approval has slipped sharply and Democrats have sought to push through one far-reaching bill after another have radically improved McConnell’s standing.

He barely survived a tough re-election campaign in 2008 and was blamed for the GOP’s heavy loses in the Senate that cycle. He would be ousted as leader if Republicans took another drubbing in 2010, many on Capitol Hill believed.

McConnell prefers to think of himself as the party’s “choir director.”

“As the choir director, I’m trying to get everyone in the same direction,” said McConnell. “In the Senate, there’s a tendency for some members to sing off key.”

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after the 2008 election highlighted the leadership vacuum atop the GOP by suggesting that radio host Rush Limbaugh was the de facto Republican leader.

But now, Senate Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the mid-term elections, which would solidify McConnell’s standing. When reminded of that period after the 2008 election, McCain did not hesitate to say that McConnell is the party leader.

“Obviously he spends a lot of time with the members and is inclusive so that when we decide on a course of action we can get nearly everyone on board.”

Only a month ago, conservatives had criticized McConnell for not using every parliamentary procedure available to slow the Democratic healthcare bill.

But McConnell kept Senate Republicans in lock-step opposition to the healthcare bill and forced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to strike controversial deals with centrists in his own conference that may prove to be the legislation’s undoing.

McConnell said voters in Massachusetts rallied against the healthcare bill not only because it contained a “half trillion in Medicare cuts but also because of the way it was done.”

“The other side resorted to a lot of unseemly tactics such as special sweetheart deals,” he said.

Most prominently, Reid struck a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) that would have the federal government pick up 100 percent of the cost of future Medicaid expansion in Nebraska. (The Senate bill has the government covering only 90 percent of Medicaid increases in other states.)

Reid also offered $300 million in extra federal funds for Louisiana to pick up the support of centrist Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Critics began calling the deals the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase”, both of them attracting negative attention.

Rattled by the Massachusetts special election, some House Democrats have balked at passing the Senate bill because of these deals, which lawmakers think would subject them to criticism in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

The special deals were necessary, however, because McConnell kept his caucus unified despite months of efforts by Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to woo just one Republican to support the bill.

At the top of the list was Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who supported the Finance Committee bill.

Had Reid lost a single member of his conference, the Senate could not have passed a comprehensive bill.

But Reid, Baucus and Obama failed to win Snowe’s support. Throughout the courtship, McConnell never publicly criticized the Maine senator.  

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a potential 2012 presidential candidate, said McConnell stands out because of the importance of the Senate as an obstacle to Obama’s agenda.

“Partly because the Senate is the last line of defense, people really look to him,” Thune said.

Thune also gave credit to House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for keeping Republicans in the lower chamber unified against the House Democratic healthcare bill.

But Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, which hosts a weekly meeting of conservative activists, said that McConnell had the tougher job because Republican senators have a long history of bucking the party.

“It’s very important to keep Republican fingerprints off of bad legislation,” said Norquist. “You needed the Senate and House Republicans to hold together.”

Norquist said it’s easier to herd GOP lawmakers in the House because they come from gerrymandered districts with high concentrations of Republican voters. He said Republican senators represent states with high numbers of liberals and independents and often sign onto bad bills in the belief their influence can make it better.

“But having a bill that is only 75-percent bad isn’t good either and some senators don’t seem to understand that,” Norquist said.

Other conservatives are not ready to give McConnell so much credit.

“Who’s the national leader for the Republican party? There isn’t one and it’s a great thing,” said Brian Darling of the conservative Heritage Foundation. “I wouldn’t say Limbaugh or McConnell or [former Alaska Gov. Sarah] Palin is the leader of the Republican Party.”

Darling said the lack of a dominant party leader is a good thing because “different ideas can come to the forefront.”

{mosads}Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of RedState.com, an influential conservative blog, dismissed the notion of McConnell as leader of the greater Republican Party.

Erickson noted that Boehner kept the entire House GOP conference unified in opposition to the $787 economic stimulus package last year while McConnell allowed three Republicans to defect. (One, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa) became a Democrat two months later.)

“I think the Republican Party is factionalized,” he said.

While Erickson acknowledged that McConnell may be the leader of the GOP establishment in Washington, he said that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are considered leaders of the conservative movement and Palin is the leader of “anti-establishment” Republicans.

Palin has emerged as the leader of self-described pro-life and pro-family Republicans while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) have attracted economics-focused conservatives.

Erickson argued that McConnell has not taken a strong enough stance against the “creeping growth” of government, noting that McConnell has been slow to take up the call to make repealing Democrat-passed healthcare reform the first order of business if Republicans reclaim Congress.

But while the Republican and conservative rank-and-file have formed splinter groups across the country, they are unified in the Senate, at least. Without that unity, Democrats would not be scrambling to save a massive healthcare reform bill that appears in critical condition.

“He’s the acknowledged leader and played the key role,” said McCain, the last politician who attempted to unify Republicans across the country.

McConnell said his secret is to listen to colleagues’ concerns.
 
“A big part of this job is just listening,” McConnell said.