Mitch McConnell Admits That He Is Perplexed That Obama Is Beating Him By Moving Left

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admitted that he was perplexed by the fact that President Obama outsmarted him by moving to the left.

To See President Biden's 5 Best Jokes At The White House Correspondents Dinner visit The Daily.

McConnell told the Wall Street Journal CEO Council annual meeting, “By any objective standard the president got crushed in this election. So I’ve been perplexed by the reaction since the election, the sort of in your face dramatic move to the left. I don’t know what we can expect in terms of reaching bipartisan agreement.”

This is the same Mitch McConnell who promised before the election that he would break Obama and force him to do the Republican Party’s bidding. McConnell intended to accomplish this goal by using government shutdowns to force the president’s hand.

Sen. McConnell’s comments are another indication that Republicans have no idea who this president is. McConnell and Boehner thought that they were getting the imaginary Obama that Fox News is always talking about, but they are both realizing that the man they are going to be dealing with for the next two years is nothing like what Republicans imagined him to be.

President Obama isn’t indecisive. The president is not weak. Obama has shown in numerous standoffs with House Republicans that he doesn’t respond well to bullying and hostage politics. The president’s offers of bipartisanship are real, but he expects Republicans to meet him in the middle. Obama has spent years refusing to bend to Republican created crisis, so it is unfathomable that McConnell could be perplexed by anything that the president is doing.

With his immigration executive action, the president outflanked Republicans while reuniting his party. Obama has six years of evidence that Republicans had no intention of working with him on anything. The White House had a strategy in place, and they were prepared for a Democratic defeat.

McConnell and Boehner have already backed down on the threat to shutdown the government in December. Sen. McConnell doesn’t have the stomach for government shutdowns, which means that he has very few weapons to use against the president.

President Obama responded to the midterm election results ready to fight. Instead of a victory lap, McConnell has gotten himself a political street fight where President Obama has already won the first round.

One gets the sense that feeling perplexed is just the beginning of Mitch McConnell’s problems.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association