The New York Times profiles Senate Minority Leader (and Obstructor-In-Chief) Mitch McConnell, characterizing the Senate’s top Republican as a man who subsists and thrives on the cold cynicism of partisan politics.

It has been apparent for some time that the GOP prioritizes short-term political gain over progress on the economy and health care, an attitude which embodies the worst aspects of Washington politics. The Times notes that this cynical attitude comes directly from their leader:

..Mr. McConnell, 68, a Kentuckian more at home plotting tactics in the cloakroom than writing legislation in a committee room or exhorting crowds on the campaign trail, has come to embody a kind of oppositional politics that critics say has left voters cynical about Washington, the Senate all but dysfunctional and the Republican Party without a positive agenda or message.

This is not a purely partisan analysis of Sen. McConnell. Republicans apparently see McConnell the same way:

Even Mr. McConnell’s fellow Republican say somewhat admiringly that he can be a secretive and coldly calculating tactician with an eye for political openings, someone more consumed by political strategy than ideology or philosophy.

Indeed.