Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a commentary for the Cincinnati Enquirer that the newly seated Republican majority does’t want to stymy and roadblock President Obama on each and every move — rather, the GOP wants to help him enter “his time” of leadership, he suggested.
But Mr. Obama has to first get on board the bipartisan bus, he said.
“As the past has shown, divided government isn’t a reason to do nothing. It has often been a spur to achieve big things,” Mr. McConnell wrote, Newsmax reported. “Ronald Reagan worked with Democratic leaders to pass bold tax and Social Security reform. A Republican Congress worked with Bill Clinton to pass ground-breaking welfare reform.”
And that means Mr. Obama and the current GOP majority in Congress can work together, too, Mr. McConnell said.
“If President Obama is interested in historic achievement, this can be his time, too,” he wrote, Newsmax reported. “But bipartisan progress can only be achieved if he wants it. He’s the only one who can bring his party on board and sign what Congress passes.”
Mr. McConnell also cautioned: It “won’t’ be easy” to reach this bipartisan atmosphere. Why?
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“The president’s supporters are pressing for militancy, not compromise,” he wrote. “But they need to understand that democracy isn’t about what you can get away with but about what you can achieve together.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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