Is McConnell losing his grip on the caucus?

But the two lame-duck votes suggest that the GOP’s six-seat pick-up in November may, paradoxically, complicate matters for the man who had come to embody Republican resistance in the age of the Obama. And while nobody in the White House thinks McConnell has lost his grip, they see an opportunity to increase their leverage as McConnell finds himself squeezed between an incoming class of emboldened conservatives with a tea party tinge – and the eight to twelve Republicans who showed their independence on “don’t ask, don’t tell” and START.

After two years of nonstop Democratic infighting, the White House is clearly enjoying the possibility of a GOP family feud — and are closely watching how the old-school McConnell meshes with new-breed Republicans like Utah’s Mike Lee, a strict constitutionalist who won’t vote for anything James Madison would have rejected, and tea party idol Rand Paul, a fellow Kentuckian whose election McConnell initially opposed…

“It was crazy opposing START — crazy — and he shouldn’t have done it. I don’t think Mitch is terribly comfortable with the tea party types,” added Dodd, who has served with McConnell for over two decades.

“It will be interesting to see if he will dance to their tune or try to make them dance to his,” said an Obama ally. “Either way, it will be fun to watch.”