Mitch McConnell, R-KY

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the literal leader of the pack when it comes to the obstructionist elephants of the Roadblock Republican party. In his current role as the GOP’s Senate Minority Leader, he’s still smarting from being knocked out of the top slot by the unexpected changing of the guard in 2006. He is the Roadblocker-in-Chief, the Biggest Block Head of them all, and he is absolutely determined to let nothing that’s even remotely tinged with Democratic Blue get passed during the term of the 110th Congress.

McConnell is no stranger to razor-thin margins of victory, of course. He won his initial Senate race against a two-term Democrat by less than half a percentage point, squeezing into office by riding on the coattails of Ronald Reagan’s landslide popularity in 1984. Since then his approval ratings in the Bluegrass State have gone up and down and up again — but now they’re on their way back down, and rightly so.

And when we say rightly, we do mean “rightly”— McConnell is about as right-wing conservative as anybody in Washington. He’s not much of a lawmaker himself, having sponsored very few bills and taken very few nationally-known positions, but he is a master of manipulating the arcane procedures and politics of life on the Senate floor to make things go his way. He is an ardent supporter of all things hawkish when it comes to military matters, marching in lockstep with every move the Bush Administration and its neocon policy mavens make.

McConnell is guaranteed to oppose everything positive and progressive even when it comes from his own side of the aisle, but with a Democratic majority in place he insists on blocking everything they might possibly want to pursue. With him at the helm, the rest of the Roadblock Republicans will keep right on sitting on every legislative initiative that the Dems can come up with. Until we can push Mitch to the ditch, he’s going to keep right on blocking the road.

Until recently, McConnell seemed to be a shoo-in for re-election in 2008; but the grass isn’t the only thing that’s turning blue in Kentucky these days, and his seat’s looking more and more vulnerable every day. What with Democrat Ernie Fletcher having just gotten elected Governor of Kentucky and now being in a position to push a more progressive agenda in his home state, it’s time for us to clear the road and put this old gray elephant out to pasture.