So Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign manager Jesse Benton—a Rand Paul loyalist who as recently as last month was publicly vouching for McConnell against tea party challenger Matt Bevin—was recorded on a private phone call saying that he was "holding his nose" while working for McConnell because it would help Rand Paul in 2016.
Not exactly the most flattering way to talk about your boss. And the question it raised was this: Would McConnell fire Benton now that Benton's true feelings had been made public? Or does McConnell need Benton (and Rand Paul) more than Benton needs McConnell?
Well, with this tweet, we have the answer:
After 30 years in the Senate, you'd think it would be humiliating for Mitch McConnell to need to kiss the ass of a guy who acknowledges saying he doesn't like working for him, but I guess the only thing McConnell is really afraid of is losing his seat in the Senate. And if the price Mitch has to pay is handing over his political operation to a guy who fundamentally doesn't respect him, well then that's a price Mitch McConnell is apparently willing to pay.
Based on what I've seen come out of Washington, D.C., most people there are dismissing all this as a sideshow. And it's true that political operatives have been known to private talk smack about their bosses. But what's interesting here is that once Benton's comments became public, McConnell rushed to Benton's defense, not the other way around. The lesson is clear: Mitch McConnell might have the title of Senate Minority Leader, but it's Rand Paul's party now. And Mitch clearly knows whose ring he has to kiss.
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