McConnell won’t oppose Reid

President Obama is headed to Nevada to campaign for Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s reelection. But Senate Republican floor leader Mitch McConnell will not try to oust Reid.

Congressional Quarterly reported that McConnell is standing by his previously stated intention not to get involved in the Nevada race, apparently in keeping with a nonaggression pact between himself and Reid.

“McConnell’s decision, which follows Reid’s move to avoid directly attacking the Minority Leader during his somewhat competitive 2008 reelection bid, is an unspoken deal between the two Senators to return some of the decorum lost in the chamber in 2004,” CQ reported. “That year, then-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) traveled to South Dakota to campaign against then-Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a deviation from tradition that rankled even many Republicans who were otherwise happy to see Daschle ousted.”