Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell believes he's found a ripe target for his Democrat-bashing rhetoric: Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Over the past few weeks, McConnell has repeatedly invoked Schumer's name to cast Senate Democrats as singularly focused on 2012 politics, rather than the country's problems.

McConnell has ridiculed Schumer for supporting what he says is a policy that would drive gas prices higher, accused the New York Democrat of ignoring the budget and even suggested Schumer was tone-deaf to the financial crisis of 2008. Schumer, who has trained his attention on House Republican leaders for months, recently went on the offensive against McConnell, who the Democrat says is keeping alive a conservative plan that would "end" Medicare.

On Monday, Schumer's office plans to release a Web video of McConnell's comments to repudiate the Republican leader's claims that the Senate GOP is not involved in partisan games, pointing out that McConnell made health care reform a signature Republican issue last year.

"In 2010, McConnell and Senate Republicans wrote the book on scaring seniors," the video says.

Their battles are only just beginning.

Schumer - a hard-charging liberal not afraid to throw partisan bombs - is now responsible for the Senate Democrats' political strategy, pitting him squarely against McConnell, the shrewd conservative who has obstructed elements of President Barack Obama's agenda. They rarely interact and lack a good working relationship like the one McConnell maintains with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

And if Schumer eventually succeeds Reid as leader, as some insiders think he will, McConnell will be forced to work closely with the New Yorker even though each man views the other skeptically. If they can't get along, the Senate could face even more gridlock than it already does. For now, they are portraying one another as polarizing political leaders.

"When Chuck comes up with an effective strategy, it gets under the skin of the Republicans," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who could challenge Schumer for the Democratic leader position down the road. "Sen. McConnell usually doesn't waste much time bringing his name into the debate."

But Republicans see it another way. 
"Schumer keeps giving him ammunition," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), No. 4 in Senate GOP leadership. 

 

It's no shock to Senate insiders: McConnell has had an adversarial relationship with Schumer since 2008 when he squared off against the New Yorker's Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which had infuriated McConnell with an ad attacking his vote for the 2008 bank bailout.

An angry McConnell felt that Schumer was disingenuous after he worked with the Republican leader to craft the unpopular financial package on the eve of the 2008 elections. But Schumer insisted that he had nothing to do with the ad because federal law barred him from coordinating with the DSCC's arm that was responsible for the attack. 

"I ended up paying for it when some in Congress who had sat at the negotiating table with me ended up running ads against me on that very issue the minute they realized it made me vulnerable back home," McConnell told the National Press Club in 2009. 

McConnell - a bare-knuckled veteran who cut an ad in his 1984 campaign showing bloodhounds searching for his opponent - called Schumer's tactics "beyond the pale." 

In fact, it took more than two years for them to directly talk about the touchy subject. Earlier this year, when they were involved in negotiations to reform Senate rules, Schumer told McConnell he was not responsible for the ad - and McConnell said it no longer bothered him, a person with knowledge of the conversation said. 

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart declined to comment, as did Brian Fallon, a Schumer spokesman. 

McConnell and Reid have built a positive relationship, and neither man campaigned against the other in their recent reelection bids. Reid has said he plans to stay on as Democratic leader at least until his term ends in 2016, though some insiders predict that his calculation could change if Democrats lose their majority in next year's elections. 

Schumer and McConnell have a short history of working together on policy issues - the one recent exception is the successful effort to reform Senate rules - and the GOP leader, who rarely shows his hand, does so only occasionally with Reid. 

"That doesn't surprise me," said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander, a trusted McConnell ally who is also on good terms with Schumer. "Chuck has sort been appointed and become the point guy for the Democrats politically and Mitch is doing his job as the Republican leader. I think both of them are veteran professional political leaders." 

Republicans believe Schumer - who is now in charge of blending Democratic policy preferences with its messaging - has given McConnell a lot of material. They believe he's regularly pushed messages that are out of sync with the views of many Democrats and made missteps showing his real interests are rooted in 2012 politics. 

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Republicans are "trying to minimize a person who's effective in advancing our policies. I think that comes with the turf."

Democrats say McConnell is attacking Schumer more frequently because he's losing the policy debates and trying to turn the public's attention away from unpopular Republican proposals. And, they believe, McConnell is trying to reestablish himself as a power player after ceding ample control to his Republican counterparts in the House. 

The cool relationship of McConnell and Schumer was on display late last month when the two appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." McConnell, who appeared as the show's first guest, dismissively referred to Schumer as "the guy that you're going to have on after me" who believes "all" the Senate should be doing is positioning for 2012. 

"What about the country?" McConnell said sternly. "What about the next generation, not the next election?" 

As he listened to McConnell, Schumer believed the GOP leader gave him an opening when he said the controversial Medicare overhaul - authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) - was "on the table" in talks over reducing the deficit. 

Schumer unleashed a fresh round of attacks on McConnell, invoking his name six times in a matter of minutes by saying the Senate leader wanted to "cling" to a plan to "end" Medicare. Schumer's office later put out a statement amplifying those attacks. 

Twisting the knife, Schumer said the true political mischief-maker was McConnell, who has stalled the Democratic agenda and has said his top goal is to end Obama's presidency in the 2012 elections. 

"Mitch McConnell said his goal is not to elect President Obama, and then he says we shouldn't talk about elections?" Schumer said on the show. "Give me a break." 

These days, on a regular basis, McConnell is dropping Schumer's name. On the floor last month, he targeted Schumer's focus on the Iraq war in 2008 as the financial collapse approached to suggest that Democrats don't focus on major crises, like the $14.3 trillion national debt. 

McConnell cited Schumer's "moment of candor" late last month when the Democrat said the Ryan budget will be "a defining issue for 2012." 

"According to Sen. Schumer, their focus is on an election that's still almost two years away," McConnell said. 

Standing before TV cameras later that day in the Senate's Ohio Clock Corridor, McConnell gleefully kicked off his weekly press conference by saying he was "hard-pressed to think of another time in which I've started a press conference by quoting Sen. Schumer, but I'm going to have to do it today." 

At least one Republican believes Schumer is probably enjoying the attention from the GOP leader. 

"Chuck probably loves it," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has worked closely with Schumer on immigration issues, said with a big laugh. "Being attacked by Republicans probably doesn't hurt Chuck in New York."