THE BIG SUCK — The stunning announcement that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will not seek another term as Republican leader has predictably triggered a succession battle that’s rife with intrigue. Texas Sen. John Cornyn is already in. So is Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota. The third of the “Three Johns” in the hunt, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, is talking to colleagues about it. There could be other candidates. But there’s a bigger question here that isn’t being discussed — why would anyone want the job? Cornyn acknowledged “the Senate is broken” in his statement announcing his bid. It was a tacit admission that this isn’t the Senate of lore, the storied institution at the heart of Robert Caro’s classic, “Master of the Senate.” Rather, it is a diminished chamber, inhabited for the most part by small, easily cowed figures and polarized to the bone. In one measure of that polarization, only five states now feature senators of different parties — the smallest number of split delegations since the direct election of senators more than a century ago. And it’s poised to get worse — it’s not out of the question that after November, every state but Maine could have two senators from the same party. Americans don’t respect their work: According to one recent poll, the approval rating for Congress is 17 percent, compared to 77 percent who disapprove of its job performance. McConnell knows that better than most. In that same poll, just 6 percent approved of his performance, while 60 percent disapproved. He has served as party leader since 2007, the longest run in Senate history, and he literally built the modern Kentucky Republican Party that now dominates the state. Yet at home, McConnell isn’t exactly beloved or venerated for his long service. Here’s how his Republican colleague, Rand Paul, the state’s junior senator, described McConnell’s popularity in Kentucky in a nationally televised interview earlier this month. “His approval ratings in Kentucky are almost below zero. They are the lowest of any elected official in the United States,” Paul said dismissively. McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. But Paul is among the class of senators elected in 2010 or later, which means they’ve never known the chamber under anything but partisan wartime conditions. For a majority of the Republican Conference, there is no frame of reference other than gridlock, bitter partisanship and party line votes. The Senate they know is no hallowed club of 100 engaged in high-minded debate. There is no reward, only pain, for compromise. It is a world of non-stop fundraising and social media attacks, accompanied by the constant threat of being primaried. The only Republican president they’ve ever served under despised McConnell, hounded several of their party colleagues out of office and abused a handful of them for sport. And that president, Donald Trump, might be back for another go-around next year. It’s frequently said that every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Never was that more true than today, which is among the reasons the job is so awful. McConnell leads a conference where six of its members have run for president before and a handful of others are thought to have similar aspirations. That level of pervasive personal ambition doesn’t make for a productive or team-oriented workplace. McConnell, who will step down from his leadership post in November, has said he plans to serve out the rest of his term through Jan. 2027. So at least his successor as the top Senate Republican will have someone to lean on for counsel, and to commiserate with. But the next GOP leader will not have access to the dealmaking skills of retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of the last voices for moderation and compromise. Yet even though he will be gone, Manchin may have already provided the best piece of advice to those considering a bid for McConnell’s job. As a frustrated Manchin contemplated retiring in 2018 before running for and winning one final term, he reportedly told colleagues, “This place sucks.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s authors at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie.
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