He views the passage of the infrastructure package as a victory in its own right. “It associated us with something that the American people like,” he says. “They always want to see us do at least some things on a bipartisan basis, and frankly . . . it was the only thing this administration tried to do this year that I thought had any merit.”

Then, the rest of BBB became harder. “I think,” he says, “the strategy of pulling the popular part out was a big part of defeating it.” Indeed, he adds, “that’s exactly what the progressives in the House were afraid of. They were right about that.”

Is BBB dead forever? He thinks Democrats still “may get Joe [Manchin] with some version of this, but at least this particular monstrosity went down.” The larger issue is that the supporters of BBB “were on an ideological mission to transform the country.”

“These people are genuine radicals,” McConnell adds. “And that’s what today’s Democratic Party is.”