Opinion | Trump Is the Leading Man

Gail Collins: So, Bret — are you gonna miss Mitch McConnell?

Bret Stephens: I guess it all depends on who succeeds him. If it’s a fairly traditional Republican, like John Cornyn of Texas or John Thune of South Dakota, I don’t think it will make much of a difference. But if it’s someone like Florida’s Rick Scott or worse, then we’ll probably remember McConnell’s tenure much more fondly, like Russians who thought better of Czar Nicholas II once they had a taste of the next guys.

How about you?

Gail: Until the Trump era I always had a deeply negative attitude toward McConnell — he was, after all, the guy who sat on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination to make sure Merrick Garland never got to come up for a vote. But lately, McConnell has certainly seemed more civilized than a lot of the other Republican leaders.

Bret: A low bar. One irony is that if McConnell had had the courage of his convictions in Trump’s second impeachment and had moved his caucus to convict, Trump would probably have been barred from holding office again and McConnell might now be holding on to his.

Gail: OK, wow. Changing my tune.

Bret: A first — Bret is harder on Mitch than Gail is.

Gail: Still, it’s smart of a longtime leader who’s moved into his 80s to step aside and let the younger generation take the top spot — while of course continuing to work hard at less glamorous projects that still make a difference.

Think of it as the Nancy Pelosi school of thought — and really wishing Joe Biden would sign up for class.

Bret: On that subject, I need to fulminate. You no doubt saw The New York Times/Siena College poll this weekend. Donald Trump leads Biden nationally by a five-point margin, 48 percent to 43 percent, and 47 percent of voters “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s leadership. Another 73 percent think Biden is “too old to be an effective president,” as compared with 42 percent who feel that way about Trump. Other polls have had Trump consistently ahead in nearly all the swing states, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls: 6.5 percent in Georgia; 7.7 percent in Nevada; 1 percent in Wisconsin; 3.6 percent in Michigan; 5.5 percent in Arizona; 5.7 percent in North Carolina. The only exception is Pennsylvania, where Biden’s lead is a measly 0.8 percent.