Mitch McConnell played ‘long game,’ built KY GOP a political home for the future | Opinion

There’s no more satisfying, purely partisan analogy for the state of the Republican Party of Kentucky versus the state of the Kentucky Democratic Party than that of the status of their physical buildings.

While the former just bought more land and is preparing for a major expansion project, the latter remains stagnant on the side of the highway with a billboard that rarely if ever gets updated.

The strength of the building Republicans currently stand in, literally and metaphorically, is thanks to our political architect and the namesake for our headquarters, U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

His work building the party has helped to create seasoned politicians so that as one moves up, another moves in behind them to take their place. It’s why the still-early speculation of who could eventually run for his seat when he does decide to retire is so fascinating; the bench is deep and getting deeper. Daniel Cameron, Ryan Quarles, Allison Ball, Andy Barr, Kelly Craft – the list goes on and on. An unending supply of talent that in turn is helping create the next generation of leaders themselves.

Andy Beshear and Kentucky Democratic leaders, on the other hand, have spent more time invested in their own political rise at the complete and utter detriment to the future of their party.

Since Beshear took office in 2019: nearly 170,000 people have left the Kentucky Democratic Party; he’s lost over two dozen State House seats; and he’s failed to pick up a single constitutional office outside his own. During her 2020 Senate bid, Amy McGrath took $100 million and set it on fire to the spectacular benefit of no one. And Charles Booker, well… most Democrats just seem happy that he’s accepted an official job away from sharp objects where he could hurt himself or others.

What they have built looks less like the semi-interesting KDP architecture we can see from I-64 and more like that of a half-burned down homeless encampment we could find in downtown Louisville. There’s no indication that the Democrats’ increasingly deteriorating situation has raised alarms. If anything, they seem resigned to a future of obscurity and failure.

As every writer has been wont to do when talking about Leader McConnell and his recently announced plans to step down as Republican Leader in November, it’s hard not to mention all this alongside the title of his book, “The Long Game.” He honed his skills of recruiting, mentoring, and financially supporting candidates at home since the beginning of his time in politics and then took the strategy nationwide. And, as if by design, his life’s work building the Party of Lincoln brilliantly came together starting with his ascent to the Senate Majority Leader’s office in 2014, a record number of Republicans elected to constitutional offices in 2015, and Republican supermajorities in the State House and State Senate in 2016.

He saw this success because he is engaged at every level. Countless Republican candidates for office in Kentucky receive contributions or a phone call from him. After every election he sits down with party staff for lunch to go over the results of each race. He asks doorknockers about their interactions in particular precincts and local leaders what is influencing their communities.

It’s less that Leader McConnell immerses himself in politics, and more so that he’s baptized in it.

Leader McConnell has shown Republicans the blueprint to a strong political home. It’s on us to carry forward that work of building the party. The more we focus on supporting and elevating like-minded leaders at every level of government, the more we perpetuate a cycle of leadership that allows a humble County Judge Executive to one day become the United States Senate Majority Leader.

Jake Cox is the former campaign manager for Senator Rand Paul’s 2022 re-election campaign, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles’ 2023 gubernatorial primary election campaign, and Treasurer Allison Ball’s 2023 campaign for State Auditor.