McConnell: Dems will ‘turn us into France’

The Senate’s top Republican says Democrats’ sights are set on European-style socialism, and derided likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s claims of being a unifier — one of the major selling points the Illinois Democrat makes on the campaign trail.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a likely preview of the Republican line of attack in the general election, said Democratic leaders and Mr. Obama “get up every morning with three things on their minds: more taxes, more regulation and more litigation.”

“It’s pretty clear to me that the Democratic agenda is to turn us into France,” the Kentucky Republican told The Washington Times in an unusually blunt interview at his office in the Capitol. “Americans may want change, but the question is, what kind of change?”

As for Mr. Obama, Mr. McConnell said, the senator from Illinois, unlike his expected Republican rival in November, has never taken the lead on bipartisan legislation.

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“I can’t think of a single occasion upon which [Mr. Obama] has been involved with Republicans on any meaningful legislation,” he said. “He’s a straight-line, big-government, high-taxing liberal.”

Mr. McConnell is setting aside past policy disputes with that Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He said the Democratic Party’s push to the far left has opened the door for the maverick, who will attract independent voters and is arguably the strongest candidate Republicans could field at a time of widespread dissatisfaction with Washington.

“He’s somebody that has a demonstrated ability to reach across the aisle, to broker legislation with Democrats, and I think a large number of the American people are looking for someone who can do just that,” he said.

Mr. McConnell, who over the years expressed discomfort as Mr. McCain broke with conservatives on campaign-finance reform, taxes and immigration, said the decorated Navy fighter pilot nevertheless will win support from the Republican base, and the contrast with Mr. Obama boosts Republicans’ confidence that they can keep control of the White House.

“He will appoint the kind of judges that are important to the members of my party. I think he’s been a stalwart supporter of a strong national defense and standing up to terrorists,” he said. “I don’t have any discomfort whatsoever” with Mr. McCain’s conservative credentials.

“We haven’t had any run-ins,” said Mr. McConnell, who several years ago led an unsuccessful lawsuit to overturn the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law. “We have arguments on policy around here all the time. There’s nothing unusual about that. That’s what we do in the Senate.”

“I’m enthusiastically in his corner,” he said.

The minority leader noted that the national electorate increasingly shares his devotion to Mr. McCain, with polls showing him even with or slightly ahead of Mr. Obama.

Mr. McConnell dismissed the notion that President Bush’s unpopularity could be a political liability for Republicans. “The president is not on the ballot” this year, he said.

“This election is going to be about the next four years and where do the two candidates for president — and the members of the Senate running with them — want to take America,” Mr. McConnell said.

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