Mitch McConnell is a ferocious, and sometimes vicious, partisan. His decision to do battle with Obama in lieu of trying to help the American people out of the Great Recession was unforgivable. His refusal to give Merrick Garland a hearing was a blow against civility in government. And, of course, his support of regressive tax cuts and reactionary judges speaks for itself.
But McConnell is not a nut, and you can do business with him. He genuinely cares about the Senate. He doesn’t like shutdowns and debt crises. He wants America to work, albeit on his own terms. And, perhaps most of all, he takes the long view; he knows the Democrats will be back in power someday, and he’s willing to forego some temporary advantages in exchange for similar treatment in the future. He will never support giving up the filibuster, no matter how much pressure Trump puts on him.
So what can we expect from him over the next two years? He will certainly continue to confirm conservative judges at a record rate, and he will defend Trump as long as he isn’t too big a liability to the GOP. But what happens if it becomes clear that Trump is leading the party to disaster in 2020? Will McConnell respond by trying to create as much distance between Trump and the GOP as possible, in the hopes of saving something in the future, or will he decide to go down with the ship?
I’m guessing the former. We’ll see.