This editorial appeared in The Lexington Herald-Leader.
It's testimony to the diversity (or maybe the perversity) of American politics that Barack Obama's moment is also Mitch McConnell's.
When Obama takes the presidential oath on Tuesday, McConnell, the Senate's Republican leader, officially becomes the most powerful Republican in Washington. (He's probably been that in practice since election night.)
Obama arrives on a wave of popular approval while McConnell leads a party whose mandate has crumbled beneath it.
A proven master of the politics of division, the Kentuckian is facing the challenge of his career: Can he shed what's worked so well for him in the past and practice the new style of governing that voters demanded when they elected a president who promised unity and hope?
McConnell burnished his reputation as a tactician the last two years by blocking Democratic proposals through filibusters. With a caucus shrunken by the election and Republicans shaken by strong Democratic showings in some red states, it will be harder for McConnell to muster the 41 votes needed to wave the filibuster threat.
So change, it seems, is in store for McConnell, too.
With the convening of this Congress, the beginning of McConnell's 25th year there, he also became the Senate's longest-serving Kentuckian, surpassing Democrat Wendell Ford.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Lexington Herald-Leader.