 That's changed during the tenures of Republicans Mitch McConnell and
Rand Paul, one the U.S. Senate minority leader, the other a tea
party champion and potential GOP presidential contender. The two are
fixtures on Sunday morning talk shows. They're sought-after
headliners for GOP fundraisers across the country. Their words and
actions are chronicled in print and broadcast news. They're
regularly cheered and jeered by the nation's bloggers.
Not since the days of Alben Barkley — Senate majority leader through
World War II and vice president under Harry S. Truman — has Kentucky
struck such a prominent profile in Washington, courtesy of two men
who took very different routes to power.
"In both cases, the Kentucky senators wind up mattering more than
almost any other duet in the country," said Washington attorney
Martin Gold, who served as counsel to former Senate Majority Leaders
Bill Frist and Howard Baker.
McConnell, an Alabama native who grew up in Louisville, got his
first taste of politics as a legislative assistant to then-Sen.
Marlow Cook in 1968, the year after he finished law school at the
University of Kentucky. McConnell later served two terms as
judge-executive in Jefferson County, building a political base to
launch his first Senate campaign in 1984. McConnell turned a narrow
victory that year into a political revival for Kentucky's GOP.
Paul, a Pittsburgh native who grew up in Texas, moved to Bowling
Green to work as an ophthalmologist in 1993 after graduating from
medical school at Duke University. He was elected to an open Senate
seat in 2010. Although Paul had never before run for political
office, he had experience working on campaigns for his father, Ron
Paul, a former Texas congressman who ran for president three times.
Paul's race against well-funded Democrat Jack Conway triggered a
convergence of the tea party and the Republican establishment. Paul
and McConnell, at odds in the 2010 primary, mended fences heading
into the general, forming a relationship that holds today.
Paul has remained true to his tea party philosophy of reducing
federal spending and opposing taxes. McConnell embraces those same
principles and has forged an alliance with Paul. Paul needs
McConnell's connections to the wealthy donor base of the Republican
establishment if he runs for president. McConnell needs Paul's tea
party influence to neutralize a primary challenge from Louisville
businessman Matt Bevin, and, if successful, to energize a likely
general election challenge from Democratic front-runner Alison
Lundergan Grimes.
McConnell and Paul have been maneuvering through a political
minefield to keep both their Kentucky constituents and national
conservatives happy.
"Leadership brings its own headache," Gold said. "Sometimes it puts
people in positions where they've got to take an out-front posture,
rather than being able to just duck something. But the other side of
that is that they automatically have an ability to influence policy.
They have a seat at the table for any major policy discussions."
And that, Gold said, generates clout to get things done for their
home state.
[to top of second column] |
It was McConnell who stepped up yet again last month to hammer out a
deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that ended a
partial government shutdown and avert a potential default on U.S.
debt that could have dealt an unwelcome economic blow.
And it was Paul who turned the nation's attention to drones in March
with a 13-hour filibuster that sparked discussion from the water
cooler to the White House. Two months later, President Barack Obama
revamped his administration's policy on when drones can be used
against terrorist targets.
Aides to McConnell and Paul rattle off a list of accomplishments
that they say have specifically benefited Kentucky over the past
couple of years without incurring costs that would anger the tea
party activists.
They won accolades from Kentucky sportsmen this year by thwarting a
move by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ban access to the
Cumberland River directly below Barkley and Wolf Creek dams where
fish congregate in large numbers. For the corps, it was a matter of
public safety. For fishermen, it was an outrageous example of
government overreach. For McConnell and Paul, it was an opportunity
to shine without spending a dime.
McConnell pressured Federal Prison Industries, which uses
inexpensive inmate labor, not to compete for contracts to produce
military clothing now made at garment factories in Campbellsville
and Olive Hill, saving the jobs of some 200 Kentucky workers. In
another instance, executives at Cardinal Aluminum Co. in Louisville
and NewPage Corp. in Wickliffe praised McConnell for protecting
nearly 1,000 jobs by pushing through legislation last year to
protect against unfair competition from foreign firms selling
products in the U.S. at artificially low prices.
"I think the main point here is that I'm in a position to do those
kinds of things," McConnell told The Associated Press. "Anybody who
replaced me wouldn't be in a position to do these kinds of things
for years, if ever."
Paul, perhaps best known for his stands on big national issues,
objected earlier this year when the Lexington Herald-Leader
suggested his influence hasn't benefited Kentucky.
"First, to imply that staggering debt, unbalanced budgets, bankrupt
entitlements, broken immigration and a costly foreign policy aren't
'Kentucky' problems is simply wrong," Paul responded. "Every
Kentuckian is affected by these issues. When I fight on big national
issues, I am fighting for Kentucky."
Jesse Benton, a GOP strategist who has managed campaigns for both
McConnell and Paul, said the two are examples of how Republicans can
come together.
"Our Kentucky senators focus on the many issues that unite us,
communicate well, have built a personal friendship, and, in the rare
occasion where they disagree, do so in a respectful and constructive
way," Benton said. "Mitch and Rand are both statesman Kentucky can
be proud of."
[Associated
Press; ROGER ALFORD]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
