National Public Radio Interview - Transcript

Interview

National Public Radio Interview

MR. WELNA: As the minority leader, Senator McConnell, I wonder about this image of John McCain as the contrarian and the maverick. How much trouble has he given the leadership of your caucus?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, once in a while yes, but of course he's been solid on the things that we think are really important, like national security, tax policy, judges. There's enthusiastic support for Senator McCain all across our party and particularly after the selection of Governor Palin, who is wildly popular here in the convention.

MR. WELNA: And does he deserve the name of a maverick in your caucus?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Absolutely, I think he deserves it. When he says he's a fellow who can work across party lines, he can prove it, unlike his opponent who can't cite a single example of any controversy or measure upon which he actually did pull together Republicans and Democrats to get a solution.

MR. WELNA: Now, four days from now you are going to be back on the Senate floor with your fellow senators and you'll be back to the old energy debate that you left off with before the August recess. Since then oil prices have dropped, gas prices have dropped. Do you think that took any wind out of the sails of the push for drilling on the part of your caucus?

SEN. MCCONNELL: No. If anything, it's picked up. You might have noticed in Santa Barbara, California, of all places, last week the county board of supervisors voted in favor of offshore drilling. Of course, that's where the whole policy began, with the Santa Barbara oil spill in the late '60s, of shutting down the Outer Continental Shelf. The American people are clambering for it. It's the number one issue in the country and we need to get a solution. I doubt if we're going to see one, however, from the majority.

MR. WELNA: Now, you're going to be on the ballot yourself in November in Kentucky. You're up for re-election. How tough of a race do you have there?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, I've got a guy with a big billfold running against me. He's got a lot of money, which he's entitled under the law to spend and is rapidly spending it. So it -- you know, it'll be a real contest.

MR. WELNA: Well, you've got 49 senators in your caucus right now. You've got 23 seats to defend. How -- do you think you're going to keep the 49 that you have, add to it, lose some?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I don't think we're going to get the majority back, but I think we'll still have enough Republican senators to make a difference in a body that requires 60 to do most things.

MR. WELNA: I haven't seen some of those who are up for re- election at the convention here. Are they back campaigning? Why don't we see them around here?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, this is not a smart place for anybody to be who's got a competitive race. Everybody in this hall is for all the Republicans. The candidates in tough races are all -- for the most part in their states doing what they ought to be doing during the -- during this period.

MR. WELNA: Do you know whether you're going to have either John McCain or Sarah Palin campaigning in Kentucky?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I don't -- I hope not, because right now it looks like McCain territory. And if it stays where it is, I can't imagine that we're going to have any visits from either ticket, either the Democratic ticket or the Republican ticket. I think the candidates on both sides will be concentrating on the states that are actually in play.

MR. WELNA: Do you expect to get anything done when you go back to Washington to I guess take up the spending bills before you adjourn for the campaign season?

SEN. MCCONNELL: No. This Congress has been a complete failure. The latest number I heard today was that it had a 9 percent approval rating. It's been the least accomplished, most ineffective Congress in my memory.

MR. WELNA: You -- do you carry any of the blame for that?

SEN. MCCONNELL: No. They're in the majority. They know how to get things done. You have to work across party aisles. You have to get along with a Republican of the opposite party. They've done none of that. It's been a blind, partisan, obstructionist effort from beginning to end. The American people have figured it out.

If John McCain is smart enough -- I think he is -- he ought to be running against this Congress. I know I'm going to.

MR. WELNA: If John McCain wins in November, you're going to lose him as a member of your caucus. Any idea who might replace him from Arizona?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I don't. We'll see what the law in Arizona is. But we want him to be president.

MR. WELNA: Okay. Thanks a lot. Senator Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader, thanks a lot.

SEN. MCCONNELL: Thank you.

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