WASHINGTON (AP) – Try as they may, there’s no sign that conservatives chirping over the departure of House Speaker John Boehner will be able to claim Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as their next pelt.
Yet to survive, McConnell will have to maneuver through Republican voters’ anti-Washington sentiments and possibly try to pass spending and borrowing bills this fall that infuriate many GOP constituents.
Boehner’s Oct. 30 resignation, which the Ohio Republican abruptly revealed Friday, deflated the pressure he’s long faced from angry conservatives accusing him of cutting deals too willingly with President Barack Obama.
But some GOP presidential candidates, members of Congress and conservative groups are also making McConnell, 73, a primary target. As with Boehner, they accuse the Kentucky Republican of persistently backing away from fights – despite the the fact that Republicans are handcuffed by having just 54 Senate votes, well short of the necessary 60 to end Senate Democratic delaying tactics and the 67 votes it takes to override Obama vetoes.
“Mitch McConnell is infinitely worse as a leader than Boehner. He surrenders at the site of battle every time,” Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., told reporters last week after Boehner announced his resignation. Salmon said he texted a fellow conservative, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, “and I said the next guy in the crosshairs is probably going to be McConnell.”