Mitch McConnell, America's No. 1 obstructionist, is trying to make big things happen

By Marc Fisher and Sean Sullivan June 30 at 6:00 AM

Mitch McConnell never particularly took offense when his opponents branded him America’s No. 1 obstructionist, the Darth Vader of Capitol Hill. Call him dark, call him evil, he embraced it all, even posting the most biting cartoons on his office wall.

He was happy to let others handle the oratory and the inspiration and the fleshing out of a governing philosophy. Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr., the 75-year-old senior senator from Kentucky, would focus on the winning part.

Based on the electoral math alone, this should be the Senate majority leader’s moment, the veteran lawmaker finally in command with an inexperienced president and a young House speaker as his partners in a united Republican government.

Despite this week’s embarrassing decision to slam the brakes on the replacement of Obamacare — which President Trump promised would happen “immediately” after he took office — McConnell may yet push through some version of the Senate’s health-care plan. But even if he does, it’s clear that the man who titled his autobiography “The Long Game” faces an extended period of ideological division within his party, deeply damaged relations with the Democrats, and an uncertain bond with an impatient and impetuous president.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mitch-mcconnell-americas-no-1-obstructionist-is-now-trying-to-make-big-things-happen/2017/06/29/93071b3e-5c35-11e7-9fc6-c7ef4bc58d13_story.html