McConnell: Cornyn Best NRSC Head
Politico reports:
Texas Sen. John Cornyn was unanimously reelected to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Tuesday, two weeks after the GOP added half a dozen members to its caucus under his leadership.
Cornyn cemented his smooth reelection by nailing down support from several members of the tea party movement — including Florida Sen.-elect Marco Rubio and Kentucky Sen.-elect Rand Paul — who upended establishment candidates this cycle.
A Republican in attendance at Tuesday’s conference meeting said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in his nominating speech dubbed Cornyn “the best NRSC Senate chair Republicans have ever had."
The second-term senator has insisted that regaining control of the upper chamber would be a two-cycle process, and with 23 functional Democrats facing reelection in 2012, overtaking the majority in two years appears a realistic prospect.
“I believe Republicans are strongest when we stick together, and I continue to adhere to the words of William F. Buckley, who famously said: ‘I am for the most conservative candidate that can get elected.’ But I recognize that Republican primary voters choose our nominees, and I am committed to listening to the message voters sent this past year,” Cornyn said in a statement, in a nod to the impact of the tea party movement this cycle.
