By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
Like many other Kentuckians, I was disappointed but not surprised last week when U. S. Sen. Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald J. Trump for another term as president.
To put this into context, McConnell threw his full support to the man he had blamed for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and who had repeatedly insulted him and his wife, a former Trump cabinet member.
Those of us who have closely followed McConnell’s career recognized long ago that the Louisville Republican craves political power and that no price is too high to achieve that power.
Two situations quickly come to mind – the legalization of unlimited corporate political contributions through political action committees and the literal stacking of the federal judiciary – including the Supreme Court — with conservative-minded judges.
If money truly is the mother’s milk of politics — and I believe that is true — then Mitch McConnell could have been a successful OB/GYN physician instead of the brilliant lawyer and political strategist who became the most effective leader in the history of the U. S. Senate.
And make no mistake about it, McConnell is almost single-handedly responsible for the Kentucky Republican Party literally rising from the ashes to dominate our state’s political landscape.
Those of us who remember when the Democrats held a 30-8 advantage in the Kentucky Senate and a roughly 80-20 dominance in the Kentucky House can’t believe how steadily those numbers reversed as McConnell and his followers raised campaign cash and recruited better candidates for the GOP.
But, as a Kentucky man, I don’t really understand how any self-respecting male could embrace someone who called him a “dumb son-of-a-bitch” in front of the entire world, much less shouting racist slurs toward his wife.
Yes, I was puzzled during the aftermath of the Capitol uprising when McConnell vowed he would support the Republican candidate for president in 2024, even if it were Trump. My puzzlement increased when McConnell didn’t vote to impeach Trump.
But I eventually realized that the clever old fox McConnell was building himself an escape hatch. He could stay in power as the top Republican senator for as long as possible because of his tried-and-true party loyalty.
That’s why I believe history will judge him harshly for putting his and his party’s best interests above those of his country.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.