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Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has weighed in on what he believes to be the most important issue for Senate Republicans during the next session of Congress. No, friends, it’s not the economy; it’s not jobs; it’s not the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; it’s not national security or energy independence.
In an interview with the National Journal’s Major Garrett, McConnell said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” The most important thing, he said, was to give the Republican 2012 presidential candidate the easiest time possible to defeat Barack Obama.
If you had any doubt about what’s really at stake in next week’s mid-term election, now you know. Maybe, deep in his heart, McConnell really believes making Obama a one-term president is best for the country. He’s certainly entitled to his opinion and his opposing viewpoint.
But to declare as the current Senate minority leader (and potential Senate majority leader if the Republicans win big enough next Tuesday) that above all else, the Republicans’ Job #1 is to destroy the Obama presidency is disturbing (at the very least). Not even conservative MSNBC host and commentator Joe Scarborough could believe that McConnell admitted it, calling the statement “embarrassing” and “pathetic.”
Think about it. Is this the party you really want in power for the next two years? The man is essentially guaranteeing gridlock. They will block everything and anything that has on it Obama’s hallmark, whether it’s an appointment to the court or a way to move the economy forward. If it’s good for Obama, it’s bad for the Republicans—and it will be blocked, destroyed or made impotent. Game playing while our country is strangling. Lovely.
And this, of course, is before we factor in the Tea Party effect on the coming Congress. McConnell is apparently the voice of mainstream Republican values; why else would he be Majority Leader?
Two years. Can our country afford it?
