On October 23, 2010, Mitch McConnell told the National Journal: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

This was not an offhand remark. It was a statement of strategy. McConnell led a coordinated campaign of obstruction unprecedented in its scope: slowing judicial confirmations to a trickle, blocking virtually every piece of the Obama legislative agenda, using the filibuster at a historically extreme rate, and repeatedly manufacturing fiscal crises.

How It Harmed Americans:

The strategy worked politically, but the cost was borne by the American people. A deliberate judicial vacancy crisis denied timely justice. Needed infrastructure investment was blocked. Climate legislation was killed, setting back decarbonization by a decade. Comprehensive immigration reform passed the Senate with 68 votes — including 14 Republicans — and the House never even voted.

McConnell's approach fundamentally changed the Senate, transforming it from a body where legislation was debated and passed into one where legislation went to die. The "legislative graveyard" was born out of this strategy. Normal governance — compromise, negotiation, problem-solving — was replaced by total obstruction.

Reference List:

• National Journal, interview with Mitch McConnell (October 23, 2010)

• Congressional Research Service, "Cloture Attempts and Filibusters" data series

• Brookings Institution, "Vital Statistics on Congress"

• Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks" (2012)