Republicans In Full Scale Battle-Mode Against McConnell

Senate Republicans and conservative leaders continue to attack Mitch McConnell after he tried for months to push Teddy Kennedy's amnesty bill through the Senate, only to vote against it once he realized it would be voted down and that Larry Forgy was continuing to gain momentum against him for the Senate primary. The Courier Journal notes:

Whether McConnell's actions amounted to a flip-flop or wise leadership of his party was a matter of debate among observers, senators and the Republican leader himself...

The Washington Times on Thursday quoted one unidentified Republican senator opposed to the immigration measure as "very, very disappointed" that McConnell was not on the Senate floor in the thick of the debate...

Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that, according to unidentified GOP Senate aides, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., was "furious" at McConnell for not taking on the compromise's chief opponents...

McConnell also must have an eye on Kentucky, where he faces re-election next year, she (Jennifer Duffy) said...

Norman Ornstein, senior analyst with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative Washington-based think tank, thinks the episode was an embarrassment for McConnell.

While Ornstein acknowledged McConnell had a divided caucus, "he's clearly getting a little sensitive to some of these ads." And, Ornstein added, "the politics of '08 could be treacherous."