Since 2007, Senator Mitch McConnell has been the leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate and by far the most effective political strategist in his party. He was the architect of the scorched-earth opposition to everything President Obama did, which paid dividends in the form of the Republican wave in 2010 and eventually Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. McConnell did all he could to hold open federal court seats during Obama’s terms, which allowed Trump to stuff the district and appellate courts, and the Supreme Court, with far-right partisans.
But McConnell is 78 years old, a survivor of polio, and clearly has some health problems.
