>
Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander go way back. The two Southern Republicans met in Washington in 1969 when Mr. Alexander was a promising young aide at the Nixon White House and Mr. McConnell an up-and-coming legislative assistant to Senator Marlow W. Cook of Kentucky. The story goes that Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. suggested to Mr. Alexander, his fellow Tennessean, that he should look up Mr. McConnell, that he was a “smart young man and I think you’d like him.” A nearly 50-year friendship and political alliance was born. In his book “The Long Game,” Mr. McConnell, now the Senate majority leader, says of Mr. Alexander: “Lamar would go on to become one of my closest confidantes and a very good friend.” Not many people are considered a close, let alone the closest, confidant of the notoriously reticent leader. But deep friendship aside, Mr. McConnell will be extremely cautious in moving ahead with the health care compromise that Mr. Alexander struck with Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, in an effort to stabilize the insurance exchanges for those buying coverage under the Affordable Care Act. And considering that President Trump is giving mixed signals on the proposal and that many Republicans in both the Senate and House are already opposed to it, the outlook for the rare bipartisan deal is murky at best. With Mr. McConnell’s blessing, Mr. Alexander engaged in a concerted effort to find a compromise with Ms. Murray, the senior Democrat on ... Link to the full article to read more