VIEWPOINT | Mitch McConnell does not care

Op-ed by Erick Erickson

Unlike a lot of conservatives gleefully cheering on Mitch McConnell's announcement that he will step down as Senate Republican Leader in November, after the election, I actually paid the price for vocally opposing McConnell. In 2014, I used my platform at RedState to back Matt Bevin's race against McConnell. I was one year into my contract at Fox News. Roger Ailes told me to stop bashing McConnell or stop going on Fox. I was sidelined at Fox for the next two years. And McConnell beat Bevin.

I learned Mitch McConnell does not care. He does not care because he was busy putting points on the board.

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McConnell did not care about my complaints or your complaints. He did not care about those who vilified him. He did not care that Republicans would attack him on the campaign trail and denounce him on TV. He did not care that Democrats made McConnell the most disliked national politician in America.

But Mitch McConnell does not care. He is elected by the people of Kentucky who have been returning him to the Senate more than any other senator in the commonwealth's 232-year history. He cares about Kentucky, not national opinion polls.