WaPo: “McConnell, who announced on Thursday that he is retiring from the Senate after his term concludes in January 2027, was never elected or even a candidate for president. But his influence and power at times eclipsed the men who were in the Oval Office. I disagree with McConnell on most policy issues and don’t respect many of his decisions. But no one can deny that Mitch McConnell fundamentally changed American politics — mostly for the worse.
…McConnell’s leadership style, from 2009 to when he stepped down last year as Republican leader in the Senate, was defined by one single factor: partisanship. He treated almost every conflict as a war between Team Red and Team Blue. So, in 2016, as majority leader, he blocked Obama from putting Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court, claiming such an important appointment should come after the presidential election later that year. But he then pushed hard for the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump pick, only weeks before the 2020 election.
…We now have a country where the two parties and its citizens are deeply polarized, and an autocratic figure is in the White House. Perhaps McConnell could not have prevented those two outcomes, but was instead a major figure in creating them. McConnell appears wary of what he has unleashed, recently voting against some of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees, who were confirmed anyway.
The story of why American democracy is in trouble starts with Trump, but the person second-most at fault is McConnell. He should not be celebrated upon his retirement.”