Glasgow —
GLASGOW — Republican U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell says he’s never seen a more favorable political environment for his party than in this year’s elections and he expects “I’ll be the leader of a larger army” after the Nov. 2 elections.
But he stopped short of predicting a Republican takeover of the Senate and said he doesn’t follow House races closely enough to predict a Republican takeover there.
Political experts expect a likely Republican takeover of the House and significant gains in the Senate, but most stop short of predicting a change of majorities in the upper chamber. Republicans would have to pick up a net gain of 10 seats
“I think we’re definitely going to be on offense this cycle,” said McConnell in an interview with the Glasgow Daily Times. “I don’t think we’ll lose a single Republican incumbent senator who is running for re-election.”
He listed 11 states where Republicans might pick up a seat. Included in those, McConnell said, are Nevada where Democratic Leader Harry Reid is facing TEA Party-supported Sharon Angle and both President Barack Obama’s former Illinois seat and Vice President Joe Biden’s former Delaware seat.
He seemed confident Republican Rand Paul will defeat his Democratic challenger, Attorney General Jack Conway, for Kentucky’s other Senate seat, now held by Republica Jim Bunning who is retiring.
“I believe we’ll hold the five open seats we have — where Republicans are retiring — and Kentucky’s in that group,” McConnell said.
He has previously said he’s already garnered enough commitments from his Republican colleagues to be re-elected Leader.
McConnell said the current anti-incumbent mood is a “better atmosphere than in 1994” when Republicans took control of Congress in Bill Clinton’s first term. He said Democrats, however, will be better funded and will campaign by attacking Republican candidates because they can’t campaign on the record of the last 18 months.
“Their pollsters are telling them you can’t campaign on health care, you can’t campaign on the stimulus, they can’t really brag about the things that they’ve done because they don’t work politically.”
He said voters “are saying enough already” to federal stimulus for the economy because in the public’s mind it hasn’t worked. He conceded voters sometimes confuse the stimulus package with financial rescue legislation which was passed during the final months of George W. Bush’s administration and for which McConnell voted.
He didn’t hesitate to own up to that vote, saying it was supported by both parties, progressives and conservatives, because of a “once-in-a-lifetime crisis.”
He said Democrats appear ready to debate extension of Bush’s tax cuts, and “that’s a political debate we’d love to have.” He said Democrats’ proposal to let the tax cuts for the top two brackets expire would capture half of small business income.
He said estimates that would affect only 3 percent of small businesses still works out to 750,000 businesses. Raising taxes in the “middle of a recession we think is a terribly bad idea.”
He also questioned the political wisdom of Obama’s latest proposal to spend $50 billion and said Republicans are happy to debate that as well.
McConnell said he believes the deficit can be reigned in without increased taxes, primarily by freezing spending at current levels. Republicans have pummeled Obama on the growing deficit and Paul has made it his major campaign theme.
“Clearly, the way to get a hold on our annual operating deficit is a multi-year spending freeze,” he said.
Long term, McConnell said he’s hopeful a bi-partisan deficit reduction commission will make solid recommendations about long term “unfunded liability issues.” That means some of the major entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.
He said corporations, whose profits have actually increased over the past 18 months, are “hoarding” money because they fear added regulations and the impact of the health care legislation.
McConnell was asked if anti-spending, anti-deficit enthusiasm among voters, especially those who identify with the TEA Party, might create unrealistic expectations that could come back to haunt a new Republican majority.
“I think one of the things we’re going to remind everyone of is who is president,” McConnell said, echoing the key Republican strategy in the mid-term elections. “I don’t think there are many people in this country who don’t know who the president is.”
Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.
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