By Al Cross Kentucky Lantern
Mitch McConnell has been the subject of four biographies: one by himself, one by a critic, one by a friend who became a critic, and now, at last, one by a top-rank Washington journalist with an objective account of “one of the most consequential senators in American history,” as the dust jacket accurately puts it.
The book’s title is a good bumper-sticker summary: “The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party.” It’s by Michael Tackett, deputy Washington Bureau chief for The Associated Press , whose journalistic pedigree also includes stints at The New York Times , the Chicago Tribune and other major news outlets.
In revealing detail, Tackett describes how McConnell slowly earned the respect and gratitude of his fellow Republican senators to become the longest-serving Senate leader of any party; gave us the most conservative Supreme Court in almost 90 years, doing away with federal abortion rights; then put himself in the minority of a party transformed by Donald Trump, with whom he has a contradictory relationship…