How much does it matter that Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell absolutely hate each other? I mean, what if they were replaced by, say, Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn? Or Dick Durbin and John Thune?
How much would really change? I mean, I get that personal acrimony isn’t helpful, but I just don’t get the feeling that Senate dysfunction is best explained by a clash of personalities. I think Durbin and Thune could probably get along pretty well for a while, but if all Thune did was block everything and offer an infinite number of poison amendments then Durbin would begin to hate him fairly quickly. Don’t you think?