October 03, 2016, 06:31 pm
GOP senators: We could work with Hillary Clinton
By Jordain Carney
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is predicting that congressional Republicans will be more willing to work with Hillary Clinton than they have been with President Obama, should she be elected president.
"Barack Obama was somewhat of an unknown – he was a senator, but only for a year-and-a-half before he was elected president. She is a known commodity, and I think there’ll be more camaraderie in terms of working together, than there might have been in the early days of Obama," Isakson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Isakson, who is running for reelection and has endorsed GOP nominee Donald Trump, added, "I don’t think it will be like the post-Obama election at all."
Democrats have repeatedly blasted Republican tactics under the Obama administration, arguing that GOP senators have reached a record level of obstruction on legislation and nominations.
Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took a final pre-election swing at Republicans from the Senate floor last month, saying lawmakers had treated Obama with "unprecedented disrespect."
Isakson's comments come as Clinton has narrowly trailed Trump in the typically red state, feeding Democrats hopes of expanding the electoral map. According a RealClearPolitics average of polls, the GOP presidential nominee is leading by less than 5 points.
The Georgia Republican isn't the only one who is open to collaborating with a hypothetical Clinton administration, even though multiple congressional committees are still probing her time atop the State Department.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Clinton would find a "willing partner" on immigration reform, bolstering the military and a Simpson-Bowles-type of initiative to improve federal spending, should she win.
"I can do two things at once. I can criticize and I can cooperate," he told The Hill last month. "I don't see that they're inconsistent."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)—while stressing that he doesn't believe Clinton will win in November—said Americans expect GOP senators to work with whoever is in the White House.
"We'll do our duty, you know regardless of who is president," the Senate's No. 2 Republican told The Hill last week. "The people we serve want us to to work together for their benefit so that's certainly my posture."
Cornyn declined to name specific issues that he believes he and Clinton could work well together on.
Republicans are defending 24 Senate seats in November, including a handful in purple states previously carried by President Obama. They will lose control of the Senate if Democrats net five Senate seats, or four if Clinton also wins the White House.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/republicans-we-can-work-with-president-hillary-clinton
