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August '98 by Ed G. Lane Mitch McConnell Mitch McConnell, via his landslide victory on November 5, 1996, became the only Republican in Kentucky history to be elected to three full terms in the United States Senate. In fact, McConnell is the only Kentucky Republican to win a statewide senate rare in the last 30 years. Senator McConnell currently serves in the Republican leadership of the 105th Congress and was elected by his colleagues to serve as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. A native of Louisville, McConnell attended the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky's College of Law, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association. McConnell founded and chaired the Kentucky Task Force on Missing Children and in 1996, received the American Farm Bureau's top award, "The Golden Plow," an accolade given annually to one senator and one congressman who best represent America's farm interests. Senator McConnell is married to Elaine L. Chao, a former president of the United Way of America and director of the Peace Corps. He is the father of three daughters: Elly, Claire and Porter. lnitially, you co-sponsored Senator Wendell Ford's Long-Term Economic Assistance for Form Act (Leaf Act–S1310). More recently, you shifted your support to Senator Richard Lugar's Tobacco Transition Act- (S–1313). Why did you switch to Senator Lugar's bill? At the time I co-sponsored the Leaf Act, it looked like the comprehensive tobacco bill was going to be known as "the settlement" – a $368 billion proposal to which the tobacco companies and attorneys general had agreed. The bill was to include certain limitations on legal liability. The settlement turned into a $700 to 800 billion tax-and-spend bill with virtually no legal liability for the tobacco industry. The CEOs of three major tobacco companies said they are bankrupt if it passes. It appeared that that bill was going to pass and be signed by the President. When this happened, I concluded that the Lugar three year front-loaded buyout was the better way to go for tobacco farmers. My view was that the tobacco bill was destruction of the industry by the government. And like any appropriate response to disaster, it seemed to me you should help the victims. If it was going to be a $700 to 800 billion revenue-raising effort designed to destroy the industry, I thought we should get as much of that for tobacco growers as we could. My first choice was to defeat the tobacco bill. Senator Ford actually voted for the bill in committee, which I found hard to understand. And I played a major role in convincing Majority Leader Trent Lott it was time to kill the bill, after a four-week debate during which time I think democracy was at its finest. The people had a chance to learn that this bill was really not about the two percent of smokers who are teenagers, but rather an effort to enrich the plaintiffs lawyers and funnel vast amounts of money into the federal government at the expense of medium- and low-income taxpayers. Sixty percent of smokers make $30,000 dollars a year or less. Fortunately, we were able to defeat the bill. My view is we should stay with the current tobacco support program and not do the Leaf Act or the Lugar buyout. just stay with the current program that has served tobacco growers well over the years, unless or until there is another effort mounted to destroy the tobacco industry.
How close was the vote on the comprehensive Tobacco bill? On the key vote to beat the McCain bill, there were no Democrats other than Ford and Roth. Forty Republican Senators and only two Democrats provided the votes to defeat the McCain bill. So the Republican Senate, after a four-week filibuster, saved the industry from what was clearly its death knell.
Will the Senate pass any tobacco legislation ? Probably not. The House may. Speaker Gingrich has indicated that he would like to pass a narrow bill to target teenage smoking and drug use – with no tax increase. If the House passes such a bill my guess is that Senator Lott will try to bring it up in the Senate. Senator Kennedy would object and that would be the end of it because Kennedy wants a huge tax increase or nothing. As to the issue of teenage smoking; nobody condones it. Looking at all the problems confronting teenagers as a result of adolescence, I wouldn't put smoking near the top of the list. Teenage drug use is a more important problem than smoking. So are teenage alcohol use, driving too fast, promiscuous sex, and out of wedlock births. Teenagers have a lot of problems these days and by any objective standard smoking is not the most important one. The Clinton administration has had little or no interest in the drug issue. The President is snickering that he didn't inhale and decides to launch an all-out war on what is clearly is not even the most important problem confronting teenagers, much less America.
Why do you think Bill Clinton and Al Gore decided to take on the tobacco industry and what impact will it have on this year's Congressional races? Dick Morris, the President's family value advisor, told them in 1996 that this was a great way to appeal to suburban women. If the tobacco issue works for anybody it works for the Republicans in Kentucky because Kentuckians believe correctly that Clinton and the Democrats in Congress are the ones trying to pass the bill. My guess is that it probably won't be much of an issue in November, but if it is, it will be one that Republicans will use to hammer Democrats.
Do you feel that the attitudes in our country are changing? Government is attacking tobacco industry now and next year it could try to prohibit drinking. Do you think government could reach a point of excess by legislating away personal freedoms? Had this bill passed, I don't think there is any question that the alcohol industry would have been next, and then probably the gaming industry, which would certainly have affected Churchill Downs and Keeneland. The plaintiff lawyers are licking their chops using this model for the next attack, industry by industry. Beyond the significance to us with tobacco in Kentucky, it was extremely important to the country to defeat this bill in order to make it less likely that we have this industry-by-industry selective destruction orchestrated by the plaintiff lawyers.
With the comprehensive tobacco bill there were a myriad of amendments added. Why was this done? Actually, the projected revenues didn't get any bigger. How we were going to spend it changed. What we were doing was filibustering by amendment. We wanted to have a lengthy debate and it ended up taking four weeks. The Senate is known for the filibuster. I have been a proud guardian of gridlock from time to time myself, and it was a classic example of democracy in action. A result of the extended debate was to give people around the country an opportunity to get involved; it also educated members of the Senate.
Have you received support from the growers and tobacco cigarette manufacturers? I have met with a number of tobacco growers. I think their response has been wonderful. People are concerned about the uncertainty and frankly, there is no way to reduce that. The good news is that we beat the McCain bill, which was a disaster. The bad news is that uncertainty remains.
Senator McCain has a high profile in the Republican Party and has even been mentioned as a candidate for president. Do you think that getting so heavily associated with tobacco legislation and Clinton has affected his political career? Republicans should not be advocating higher taxes and more government. While Senator McCain may have been prominent during the course of the tobacco debate and President Clinton's water boy, it was the kind of prominence I would think a Republican aspiring to be president would want to avoid.
New legislation to sunset and reform of the IRS is now pending in Congress. Do you believe there is a good chance this legislation will pass? The IRS Reform Act has already passed the House and the Senate. (The bill has since been signed by President Clinton.) It is the first IRS reform bill since 1952. It is designed to make this agency function differently. The IRS is almost a terrorist group. The IRS is the only agency in America where you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. There is another bill to sunset the current tax codes at the end of 2002. That has passed the House. I don't know if we will have the votes to pass it in the Senate or not. If it passes the Senate, I think the President would veto it. The best way to force both the Congress and the White House to confront genuine change in the tax code, whether it is a flatter tax or a consumption tax, is to say there is a date this monstrosity is going to come to are end.
As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, you will control much of the Republican effort to gain new seats in the Senate. How will this benefit Jim Bunning in his campaign against Scotty Baesler for WendeIl Ford's Senate seat? Well, there are 34 Senate races, but as George Orwell said in Animal Farm: "All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others". All Senate races are equal in the sense that every successful Senate candidate has a vote in the Senate, but they are not all the same and Kentucky is one state where Republicans have an opportunity to gain a seat. Clearly, I have a great interest in this race [and] I think it is safe to say that the Democrats see Kentucky as a target race too. It is going to be robust, vigorously contested and, in my view, very close.
Republican Ernie Fletcher and Democrat Ernesto Scorsone are in a tight race for the 6th district congressional seat. What do you believe are the key issues in this race? Ernie is a very capable fellow, a former fighter pilot and physician with an outstanding record. He ran a good race two years ago against the incumbent. Ernie is a mainstream conservative and the Democratic candidate appears to be pretty far left and clearly the most liberal of the six or so Democrats that ran in the primary. Ernie has an excellent chance of winning. I think the people of Central Kentucky would rather have a mainstream conservative than a far left liberal. I expect the Republicans to pick up the sixth district.
What are the chances that Kentucky's congressional delegation will be 100 percent Republican after the 1998 elections? Well, that is certainly our goal. Republican Jim Bunning has a great chance of winning the Senate seat. I think Ernie Fletcher can win the 6th. I believe we will hold the 4th district for our candidate Jay Williams against Ken Lucas. If we were to do all of that [and] do not lose any of our incumbents, then we would have a 100 percent delegation, and Kentucky would be the only state east of the Mississippi with a 1 00 percent Republican delegation. Having been very deeply involved in Congressman Lewis and Congressman Whitfield's races in 1994, 1 am trying to provide the same counseling and advice to Ernie Fletcher and Jay Williams this year. In the Senate race, I have asked my administrative aide, Kyle Simmons, to run Jim Bunning's race. Kyle is the best in the country; he ran my landslide re-election in 1996. The Republicans are going all out to provide some balance for the state. Frankfort has been a Democratic stronghold for decades.
With the current state of economic well-being, do you feel the Democrats will be able to capitalize on low interest rates, high employment and the budget surplus? I don't know what will happen in two years, but I will tell you why Congress is going to stay in Republican hands this year. It is very clear in the surveys that even though Americans voted for Clinton in 1996, as long as he is in the White House they want a Republican Congress. They know Clinton is slick. They know he is a great talker. They kind of like him, but they don't trust him. And the best way to keep Clinton on a short leash is with a Republican Congress. Watch this fall: if there is a national issue, it will be that one. People realize that they don't want Clinton to have a blank check for the last two years of his presidency.
Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants, Inc. and publisher of The Lane Report.
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