Today, Explained - Switch to Mitch

Episode Date: July 8, 2019

In the first Democratic debates, candidates seemed to be running against a powerful Republican who arrived long before Trump and will likely outlast him. NPR's Kelly McEvers explains the secret to Senator Mitch McConnell's dominance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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One morning walking up to dozens of reporters, their microphones ready to capture my words, which they'd likely twist the next day in papers across the country, I welcomed them by announcing Darth Vader has arrived. Everyone expected the Democratic debates a few weeks ago to focus on one divisive Republican. But they sort of surprisingly ended up being about a completely different divisive Republican. Do you have a plan to deal with Mitch McConnell? I do. I got Mitch McConnell to raise taxes $600 billion. We let Mitch McConnell stop all the backup paper ballots.

The lock will not magically disappear as long as Mitch McConnell is there. When we beat President Trump and Mitch McConnell walks into the Oval Office, God forbid, to do negotiations. Yes, first by taking away the filibuster from Mitch McConnell. But if you want to beat Mitch McConnell,

this better be a working class party if you want to go into Kentucky and take his rear end out. Maybe it's because a bunch of United States senators are running for president right now. Maybe it's because as Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell is the man who actually decides what passes and fails in this country. Maybe it's because he's been around forever. Whatever the reason is, it's clear that these upcoming elections will be about Mitch McConnell as much as they're about anything else. Kelly McEvers hosts an NPR podcast called Embedded. She's done deep investigative series on coal, on ISIS, but most recently she embedded the Senate Majority Leader.

Well, let's say this. I requested some time with him where I could actually embed with him. I asked many times to go to basketball games and do some of the things that he likes to do in Kentucky, and that request was denied. So what I did instead was sort of embed in his life. And to do that, we went back to the 70s and to Louisville, Kentucky, which is where Mitch McConnell grew up, and it's where he first entered politics. And the really interesting thing about Louisville and about Kentucky back then is Kentucky was a blue state. I mean, it's hard for us to imagine that now, right? But this was a place that voted Democrat. And Louisville in found is that he, like his party, moved to the right over time.

And what's different about him, I think, is that he saw those winds blowing very early on and knew that he had to go with the winds. At what point does Mitch get into politics? Is it like baby Mitch, teenage Mitch? Where does it happen? He writes about this in his book, and it's something we heard from a lot of people too. He was pretty interested very early on. He wore an I Like Ike button in one of his early school photographs,

and he knew he wasn't the charismatic guy, right? Like he's never been the sort of back-slapping, you know, glad-handing guy. And from a very early age, he knew that he had to find other ways to win. So, in high school, he's running for student council president. To win the election, I needed to run a better campaign. I began to seek the endorsements of the popular kids, like Janet Boyd, a well-known cheerleader, and Pete Dudgeon, an all-city football player.

I was prepared to ask for their vote using the only tool in my arsenal, the one thing teenagers most desire, flattery. And he makes a pamphlet with all the endorsements listed, like Janet likes me, and all the names of the people who endorse him him and then puts the flyers under people's lockers and everything. And he wins. And do you know how he gets the endorsements? Did he promise something to these cheerleaders? That's really interesting.

You know, when we asked the cheerleader, Janet Boyd, all she remembers is, Mitch had his own agenda because he's just that smart. He had a plan. Did she like that she got in early on Mitch McConnell? Was she proud of that? Yeah, I think she's still a Mitch McConnell fan. So when does he parlay this experience from high school into actual public office? Is it right out of high school, college? He's trying to get into politics? In college, he runs for a few things, actually loses. Those are the stories he does not tell. Ooh.

And then when he was running for his first political office, which was this local job called county judge executive, it's basically like the mayor of the county that surrounds Louisville, Kentucky. I mean, so one of the things he does in this early race in 1977 is he knows, just like in high school, that he needs to get the endorsements of the popular kids. He's a Republican running in a Democratic city in a pretty Democratic state. And so one of the endorsements he goes after is this thing called the Labor Council. And it's this council that represents the different union members in and around Louisville. I mean, we're talking tens of thousands of people, potentially like 100,000 votes. I mean, it's a huge, huge endorsement. And to get votes in a blue place, you had to say the things that people wanted to hear.

You know, Labor Council had some older guys on there that were pretty rough, and they were diehard Democrats. And the story of the unions is really an interesting story because it's one that he tells, too. Like, can you believe I got the endorsement of the AFL-CIO? And the way they tell it is he really went after them, right? I talked to one guy who remembers Mitch McConnell calling him up and wishing him a happy birthday. Another guy tells us a story about how he came to union meetings. He was right there with us, buddy. You'd have thought he was Samuel Gomper's cousin. wishing him a happy birthday. Another guy tells us a story about how he came to union meetings.

He was right there with us, buddy. You'd have thought he was Samuel Gomper's cousin. But what we found is we actually went back to some of these old union guys who were there the night they voted to endorse him. Of course, one of the questions that I was assigned to ask him was, what's your position on collective bargaining

for public employees? And he said, I support it. I support it wholeheartedly. And it was a big fight, actually, right? You got all the old-timers saying, like, why would we endorse a Republican? And some of these other younger guys saying, well, listen, you know, he's a good guy. He promised to help us on collective bargaining. Come on, let's do this.

They won the old-timers over. They voted to endorse him. And then right after he got elected... It wasn't even six months after he got into office. We had a couple important issues we wanted to talk to him about. They tried to get some meetings with him. I remember this very clearly, like it was yesterday. He said, well, you all misunderstood me. I said, if the state would pass a collective bargaining bill for public employees, I would support it. Well, sure you would. I mean, it becomes the law.

You have to. That was his position. And the way the union guys said it to us when we talked to them was? I felt, what's the word? I felt crapped on. Tricked. Lied to. I let him sweet talk me. I admit it. I felt, what's the word? I felt crapped on. Tricked. Lied to. I let him sweet talk me. I admit it. You know, I did. You know, when you see kind of breezy bios of Mitch McConnell,

it's like, oh, he used to be a moderate. He used to be pro-union. I think that's not exactly right. I think what it was, was he knew he needed the endorsement from the popular kids. He said what he had to say to get it. And then he stopped saying it once he got elected. He does go for county judge executive a second time, 1981. But from that point on, he's got his sights set on one thing, and that is the United States Senate. When does he first take a shot at it? 1984.

It's his first race for the United States Senate. And he's going up against an incumbent, a senator named Dee Huddleston. And he's way, way, way behind. Like, to call it a long shot bid for the U.S. Senate is an understatement. In August of 1984, we were 40 points down. I mean, it's a little hard to get lower than that. And he says to his campaign manager, a woman named Janet Mullins Grissom, we've got to find some dirt on Dee Huddleston, his opponent.

Mitch just kept after me. He's like, you just need to check. We just need to check. She's like, oh God, just to get him off my back. She stays up late one night, digging through the congressional record, looking at the financial records and finds what she calls the silver bullet on Dee Huddleston. I mean, I remember calling Mitch at two o'clock in the morning going, you were right. We've got him. We finally got him on something. He has been missing votes on the Senate floor and getting paid for speeches when he's missing these votes.

So the next step was to bring in Roger Ailes. The Roger Ailes. The Roger Ailes, yes, who, of course, would go on to run Fox News. At the time, he was a political consultant. I think he had done some work for Nixon. She brings it to Roger Ailes and Mitch McConnell. And Mitch is like, yeah, yeah, you know, how can we make this into a campaign commercial? And Roger, who was already portly at that point in time, and was smoking a pipe.

And so we're sitting in the office and he's just billowing smoke. And Roger just kind of leans back in his chair almost to the point, you know, when a big guy leans back in a chair and you think he's probably going to end up on the floor. And that's Roger. And there he is in his puff of smoke. And he's just, he's like,

dogs, I see dogs. I see hound dogs. And the way the story goes is that Roger Ailes had recently seen like an ad for dog food, right? Like kibbles and bits, kibbles and bits, like a dog running around searching for food. And he's like, what if we had dogs running around searching for Dee Huddleston? My job was to find Dee Huddleston and get him back to work. Huddleston was missing big votes on Social Security, the budget, defense, even agriculture. Huddleston was skipping votes but making an extra $50,000 giving speeches.

I just missed him when Dee skipped votes for his $1,000 Los Angeles speech. Let's go, boys. We got him now. I was close at Dee's $2,000 speech in Puerto Rico. Me to D. Huddleston. Thank you very much. Come on. We can't find D. Maybe we ought to let him make speeches

and switch to Mitch for senator. And the thing about this ad, I mean, this is an ad that is still studied by ad makers and like in political science classes because it's one of the early attack ads. But what it did was made people laugh. It humanized somehow Mitch McConnell like, oh, this guy's kind of funny.

And his opponent's kind of a joke. The ad gets him closer, but he's still behind. And so then the other thing he knows he needs, again, endorsement from a popular kid, is the endorsement of Ronald Reagan. They worked at it and worked at it and worked at it. It was really difficult. But at one point, there's a debate in Louisville, and they have been assured that Reagan is going to say

something nice about Mitch McConnell on stage. President Reagan stepped up to the microphone. He pulled out his cue cards. It's great to be back in Kentucky and back in the land of pioneer spirit and pride. And he said he was so glad to be here tonight with my good friend. Mitch O'Donnell. Mitch O'Donnell.

McConnell. McConnell. I must have been thinking of the Archbishop. I said O'Connell. McConnell. Oh, I thought, you know, this was Murphy's Law. I thought, you know, is there anything else that can go wrong? But he's got the endorsement, and then the other thing that happens right before that race is a debate with Dee Huddleston.

And the thing that struck us about that debate is he just makes no apologies about the fact that he went on the attack. I don't have any problems with Dee Huddleston. I like him. I think he's a nice fellow. What we've been talking about is his record. And by the way, I think it's doubly amusing for him to still be complaining about a negative campaign. If you've had your television sets on the last couple of weeks, all you've seen are outrageous negative campaigns against me. Well, I'm glad Mitch McConnell has brought this subject up again because it is indicative of the fallacious nature of his total campaign. When it's close, when it's competitive, the two candidates are sort of like gladiators in the ring.

And the public benefits from the two candidates getting into the ring, mixing it up, and bringing out observations about the other candidate's record. When we heard the tape of him saying this, it was like, oh wow, this is like such a harbinger of what's to come. He's like, politicians are like gladiators in the ring. Just got to fight it out. Brittany Chang, you work at SB Nation.

You do the sports. Yes, including the U.S. Women's National Team. Did you get to go watch those games? I didn't go to France, but I went to a bar. Was the bar far away? You know, a block away down the street. I was asking because the quip, it turns out, is like a really good travel toothbrush is the bar far away? You know, a block away. I was asking because the Quip, it turns out, is like a really good travel toothbrush. Did you know this? Have you

experienced the Quip on travel? Yes. Actually, I took it to New York with me two weeks ago. There you go. Yeah. It was super easy to use. You just like put the cover on it and you just bring it with you. I should mention to all of those of you who don't have the Quip that the Quip starts at just $25. And if you go to getquip.com slash explained right now, you get your first refill pack for free. How do you talk so quickly? Wait, did you go to getquip.com slash explained? I did go to that website. And then I got my refills automatically.

And I think I'm going to get my first refill pack next week. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I'm excited. Oh, you should bring it in and show all your coworkers. Okay. And then tell them to go to getquip.com slash explained. Ah, my gosh. Yeah, I'm excited. Oh, you should bring it in and show all your coworkers. Okay, and then tell them to go to getquip.com slash explain. Ah, nailed it. Kelly, we talk about Mitch's recent work on The Regular, on this show,

but what's he like when he shows up in the Senate? What do his early hits sound like? Honestly, if there's one thing you need to know about Mitch McConnell, it's that for decades, he was the person who did everything that he could to oppose campaign finance reform, to let more money into politics, not less. Where did this notion get going that we were spending too much in campaigns? Mitch McConnell says this is something he came to understand early on. He says that he realized that letting people put money into politics is a free speech issue.

It's a First Amendment issue. Even though he knew it was not a popular position. You've got people like John McCain standing up and saying, There's too much money washing around, and this money makes good people do bad things and bad people do worse things. We've got to get away from this world where Washington seems to be so corrupt that where politicians can be bought and sold. And Mitch McConnell saying, no, no we don't. You're wrong. This is a stunningly stupid thing to do, my colleagues. And this, what, this really bubbles up in a fight with John McCain?

Yes, right. So the rivalry, of course, gets the most heated when McCain is pushing for the McCain-Feingold bill. This is, to date, was like one of the most significant pieces of legislation to regulate money in politics. The law enacted in 2002 that banned unrestricted soft money donations. So even if a president goes to a fundraiser

with the richest donors and the deepest pockets, there's only so much money he can get now. When McCain-Feingold finally passed, he says it was one of the worst days of his life. Mitch McConnell is despondent. He's just like, this is a thing that I think is bad legislation. I think there should be more money in politics. Again, he says it's because he believes it's a First Amendment right.

His critics say it's because he wants to win. And he's even said it. Look, it helps our party if we get more donations. Take away non-federal money, we wouldn't be in the majority in the House. We wouldn't be in the majority in the Senate. We wouldn't win the White House. So I can tell you this,

hell's going to freeze over first before we get rid of soft money. And so Mitch McConnell does not stop there. In fact, he doubles down. He's like, we're going to figure out how to change these laws in other ways. And one of the ways he does it is he works with this organization that's sole purpose is to file lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit challenging campaign finance laws. Until one of those lawsuits sticks. And that lawsuit, of course, is Citizens United.

The Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision on campaign finance today. They threw out key provisions of campaign finance laws dating back to 1907. I think it was a terrific decision. I don't think there's any harmful consequences to come out of it. Everybody's free to have their fair say. There are more voices in America speaking up. I don't find that a problem. This is a fight that this guy has been fighting for decades.

And finally, I mean, we talked to Russ Feingold about this, right? One of the sponsors of McCain-Feingold. He's like, John and I walked up and found a brick wall where there was a brick missing. And we spent seven years getting that brick and putting it in place and making sure it was solid. And then the Supreme Court came along with a bulldozer and knocked over the entire wall. So around the same time that he gets this big win in Citizens United, he's, of course, dedicating the rest of his time, as far as anyone can tell, to opposing Barack Obama, his presidency, his policies, his Supreme Court nominations. What is it about Mitch McConnell and Barack Obama that are, you know, oil and vinegar? 2010, of course, it's the famous quote. We want to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Unless he's more willing to come over to my side.

And then I'll be willing to work with him. He's like, and later on he says, I don't want him to fail. I just want him to change. I think he really takes umbrage to this idea that he was the obstructionist in the Obama administration. But it is fair to say, I think, that his role at that time was of the obstructionist. Not only did he say that Barack Obama should be a one-term president, he also, and this is very important now, worked hard to block Obama's nominations to the federal courts, leaving open many, many, many vacancies that he himself would later help fill under a Republican president. And of course, the biggest act of obstructionism everybody remembers is when Barack Obama nominated a justice to the Supreme Court

after Antonin Scalia died. Today I am nominating Chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court. This is the greatest honor of my life. Other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. I only wish that my father were here to see this today. I simply ask Republicans in the Senate to give him a fair hearing and then an up or down vote. Within minutes, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said no. Don't bother coming. I won't meet with you and the Senate won't act on your nomination.

The American people may well elect a president who decides to nominate Judge Garland for Senate consideration. The next president may also nominate somebody very different. Nine months before the election, Mitch McConnell refuses to hold a hearing. Basically decides within an hour after Antonin Scalia dies that he is not going to fill that seat. And succeeds in doing so. He calls it one of the most consequential decisions of his career.

Holding this seat open actually helped Trump get elected. He calls it one of the most consequential decisions of his career. Holding this seat open actually helped Trump get elected. And what happens is, in particular, evangelical voters who were worried about Trump, who were worried about this person who they thought might not be in line with their thinking, reassured that he will, in fact, appoint a conservative judge to the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia, great judge, died recently, and we have a vacancy. I am looking to appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia. So yeah, looking back, it was the most consequential decision of Mitch McConnell's career in a bunch of ways. What are the things that he might be most proud of from his partnership with Trump so far? Absolutely, without question, judges appointed to the federal bench. I think we're up to 145

now as we speak. All these vacancies were left open because McConnell blocked them under Obama. And now he is changing some of the norms and rules to get them through quickly. 30 hours of debate, now it's two hours of debate. There's this thing called blue slips where the home state senator used to have the ability to say yes or no to a judge. That's gone for some nominees. Taking in consideration the American Bar Association's recommendations on judges. McConnell, of course, would say Democrats changed some of these rules first. It wasn't just me. But this is his thing. This is his legacy. And I'll tell you something. We have a man, one of the most powerful men

in the world. It's OK. Comes from Kentucky. That's not bad. Got to respect that. And he heard about this. He says, I want to be there. He's one of yours. He's joining us tonight. And it's right after Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in to the Supreme Court. Another nominee that McConnell fought hard to get on the Supreme Court. And it's almost like they're taking a victory lap.

And he got us a man who will be one of our great, great Supreme Court justices. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Come up, Mitch. And he just walks up onto the stage. He's up there for a very short period of time, and he's just like... Thank you, Kentucky. Aren't we proud of President Trump? And why does this matter to Kentucky that Mitch McConnell is seen to be in lockstep with Donald Trump? Because Mitch McConnell is not popular in Kentucky. Donald Trump is popular in Kentucky.

Mitch McConnell is up for re-election in 2020. Standing with Trump is crucial to him winning. But I mean, he's won every election since 1984. That's like, what, one, two, three, four, is four, five, six? There you go. Yep. So Mitch McConnell isn't popular in Kentucky, but he's survived six elections. That's right. And that's what his people will say. Like, sure, he's not popular now, but every time he takes his case to the voters, he wins. I think the best way to judge Mitch McConnell is, how did the elections come out? I'm 9-0. Yeah, I mean, he's 77 years old,

and he's definitely running again in 2020, so I don't think he has any plans to not do this anytime soon. 30 years, and nobody likes him. That's amazing. Does his ability to survive time and again, having never been popular, having never even taken up an issue that really resonates with the average voter or most voters anywhere, does it sort of redefine what Americans want out of their leadership, you think? It's a great question. I mean, I think one thing that we found in Kentucky was that there's this sense that our guy

is in a very powerful position. And I think that has a lot to do with him getting reelected. You know, he's the second most powerful, in some ways he's the second most powerful person in the country. In some ways he can be the first sometimes, I feel like. Sure. You know, he calls himself the Grim Reaper of any democratic legislation. Like, basically, like, he gets to decide what gets voted on.

And if it doesn't get voted on, then it doesn't happen. It's funny, too, though, in a world where people have less and less respect for Washington, that that story is still working. You know, one thing I decided early in my career, if you're constantly in pursuit of popularity, you can tie yourself in a knot. I think it's impossible to satisfy everybody. I try to deliver for my state and make decisions on what I think is in the best interest of the country. And anybody can run against me who chooses to. So far, I don't want to be too cocky here, but so far there have been nine losers. Kelly McEvers is the host of Embedded from NPR. Thanks to her and her team for all the interview tape you heard in this episode.

They also poured through and found some choice clips from Mitch McConnell's audiobook. Thanks, Mitch. I'm Sean Ramos from This Is Today Explained. I spent some time at the beach this past long weekend, and I was really grateful that I didn't bring my toothbrush because it probably would have gotten sandy. The Quip electric toothbrush doesn't get sandy because it comes with this travel-ready cover that acts as a stand, but also a mount,

and it keeps the sand where it belongs, on the beach. The Quip starts at just $25, and if you go to getquip.com slash explained right now, you get your first refills for free. That is G-E-T-Q-U-I-P dot com slash explained.