The Senate: Battleground in 2009

Now that Barack Obama is done with campaigning against President Bush, he has to govern. And he has to get his legislation passed through Congress. The House of Representatives will not pose any significant problems for the President-elect. The Senate will be different, even if the Democrats manage to put together a filibuster proof supermajority.

And for the Republicans, the man in the arena will be Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky:

From Pajamas Media's Jennifer Rubin:

Should Obama try to push through legislation outlawing secret ballot union elections (e.g., "card check"), McConnell will no doubt mount the opposition. Similarly, he seems poised to oppose large spending (although filibuster rules generally do not apply on budget votes) and efforts to re-impose the recently lapsed ban on offshore drilling.

This sets the stage for the greatest mystery of the new administration: which Obama will show up and which agenda will he offer? Will it be the moderate who seemed to advocate the items on the McConnell-approved list, or the ultra-liberal who earned the distinction of McConnell's most liberal colleague? It is not clear, but provided GOP senators’ numbers do not dwindle any further, McConnell may act as a brake on the most extreme elements of the Democrats’ agenda.

The initial jockeying for position reminds us that McConnell is now the most important Republican in Washington and, until the 2012 presidential race gets underway, effectively the face of the party. Conservatives find comfort in that. As a savvy tactician he did his best to operate in the face of a Democratic majority since 2006 and continually frustrated Democratic moves to, among other things, cut off or condition funds for U.S. troops in Iraq.

But the danger for McConnell and the rump Republicans is great: the country (not to mention the media) is rooting for "change" and supporting the new president-elect, whatever direction he takes. A strategy of defense is likely to be labeled "obstructionist" — or worse — by those expecting Obama to take Washington by storm. There is perhaps no better politician able to withstand elite opinion and media criticism than McConnell. Ever calm and relentlessly focused on conservative aims, he at times seems serenely impervious to his opponents' barbs.

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