WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama sent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a handwritten note thanking the Republican for backing Loretta Lynch as attorney general.
That’s right: The Democratic president and GOP leader who have been at odds multiple times over the last six years find themselves on the same page of late.
The Kentucky senator spoke about his role in the latest political odd couple on Sunday during a speech at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston. McConnell was the inaugural speaker for the “Getting to the Point Series.” McConnell spoke of his aspirations to be a senator, occupying Kennedy’s office in the Russell building and his drive to get work done in the Senate, with his own outreach to Democrats.
McConnell pointed out that Obama has agreed to sign a bill giving Congress review power on any nuclear deal with Iran, and this week the Senate will take up a trade bill that is a priority of the president.
“A lot of folks like to joke about the odd couple that was Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch,” McConnell said, referring to the late Massachusetts Democrat and the Republican senator from Utah. “But I think Mitch McConnell and Barack Obama may have them outdone. I had to warn reporters not to faint last week before offering the president some praise on trade. I’m even getting handwritten notes from the president these days. He sent one the other day to thank me for supporting the nomination of Loretta Lynch.”