His caginess has also created awkward situations. Last year, for example, he stood behind Bush when the president came to Capitol Hill to revive a foundering immigration bill. McConnell later voted against it, helping GOP critics defeat Bush’s priority.
Medicaid regulations are another challenge for him. The emergency war-spending bill contains legislation that would block seven cost-cutting regulations. Many governors are pressing their delegations to support the legislation because they dislike the regulations. The Bush administration supports the cost cutting, while Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants to block the bill. McConnell, so far, has again avoided an explicit stance, but offered tepid support for Grassley.
On the farm bill, his past support has been inconsistent — he voted for the Senate version of the farm bill in December, but against the last farm bill in 2002.
Voting records compiled by the American Farm Bureau Federation show McConnell has rarely strayed from the AFBF line. He supported the lobby on all nine of its legislative priorities in 2005, 15 of 17 in 2006 and three of six in 2007.
“He’s great. He’s wonderful,” said AFBF lobbyist Mary Kay Thatcher. “We’ve got a small number of people that we call friends of the Farm Bureau each year, and he’s certainly one of them.”
The Bluegrass State is home to 84,000 farms — fourth in the U.S. — that span 13.8 million acres, with the equine industry, cattle, tobacco and corn the state’s top crops, according to the Kentucky Farm Bureau.
Coyle sent a letter Monday to Kentucky’s congressional delegation, calling swift passage of the bill “critical” to the state and urging an override of a Bush veto.
Coyle said McConnell’s 2002 vote against the last farm bill was an anomaly.
“We all realize the ’02 bill worked better than some people thought it would,” Coyle said. “I firmly believe the senator will look at this bill differently.”
The thoroughbred tax break would revise tax laws that calculate how racehorses are depreciated. National Thoroughbred Racing Association President and CEO Alex Waldrop specifically saluted McConnell for the provision in a May 8 statement, saying the provision “will provide enormous economic incentives to the horse racing and breeding industry.”
Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also said McConnell has been a “great counter-puncher” in the political tug-of-war with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
“Being a leader in the Senate is one of the most difficult jobs,” Ensign said. “Some of us just disagree sometime. You could say that he’s very contemplative.”
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who sits on the Agriculture Committee, said issues like the farm bill attract division within conferences since senators often disagree based on regional differences.
“What you have to do sometimes is choose between what leadership is asking and what you need to do for your state and your constituents,” Nelson said. “His position is particularly difficult because he’s part of leadership.”
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