Mitch’s Shutdown Game

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, and GOP lawmakers, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, talk to reporters after a GOP c... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, and GOP lawmakers, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, talk to reporters after a GOP caucus meeting, Tuesday, April 29, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo) MORE LESS
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Mitch McConnell doesn’t want voters thinking he’s planning to resume government shutdown brinkmanship if Republicans win the Senate. Shutdown is a loaded and unpopular word. So he’s putting it in legis-speak to give himself some deniability. But that’s exactly what he’s promising to do if becomes Senate majority leader. He told as much to Politico on his campaign bus a few days ago, and he’s been caught saying it privately a couple of months ago to a group of high-dollar GOP donors on an audio recording published today by The Nation. This kind of cynical gambit relies on the lack of sophistication of voters and a compliant press corps. Probably not a bad gamble.

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