Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will become the longest-serving Senate leader in the Republican Party's history next month.
McConnell, 76, took the leadership role 11 years ago, and will surpass former GOP Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole on June 12. He plans on running for reelection in 2020, and will likely face no opposition in a bid to continue as GOP leader.
"I'm proud of the fact that I've enjoyed the confidence of my members," McConnell told Politico in an interview released Thursday. "And I'm proud of the fact that I've been reelected without opposition."
"He's in a job he's made for and meant for," said Janet Mullins Grissom, McConnell's campaign manager in his first run for Senate and his first chief of staff. "He has every intention of running again and remaining leader just as long as his colleagues will elect him."
"There's a reason Mitch is the longest-serving Republican leader: He understands and well-represents his caucus," said McConnell's Democratic opposite, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. "He knows how to fight, and he knows how to cooperate."
McConnell told Politico that the "two best qualities" for a majority leader are "a thick hide and to be a good listener, because what I'm always doing is trying to get as much consensus as I can and try to achieve as much as what we can. Those who prefer perfection typically are people on the outside who are always thinking, unlike Ronald Reagan, that 80 percent is not enough."
"We've been on defense, we've been on offense," McConnell added. "What I've tried to do is to keep a steady hand and stay calm in the storm, and so I never get too high or too low."
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