Political Quotes

“I rise today to pay tribute to the longest serving party leader in Senate history: Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Over the course of a political career that began with a hard-fought race for student council president in his junior year of high school--a race, I might add, that he won with what would become his signature blend of hard work, intelligence, and determination--Mitch has built a legacy that will long, long outlast his time here in the U.S. Senate. The day he became the longest serving party leader in Senate history, Leader McConnell delivered a speech discussing past Senate party leaders and their characteristics, from the mastery of relationships demonstrated by Lyndon Johnson to the ``tackle football'' of Joseph Taylor Robinson. It got me thinking about some of the things that have characterized Mitch's tenure, and there are three of them that stand out to me, in particular. First, there is Mitch's peerless knowledge of Senate procedure. I suspect few who have served in this body have developed the kind of knowledge that Mitch possesses of the most arcane details--and they are arcane--of Senate rules. But Mitch recognized early on that knowledge of Senate procedure could play a big part in success as a Senator, and he was right. And so, with his signature determination, he set out to acquire it and became an undisputed master.…”