Reid brings-up the ‘Great Compromiser’ as shutdown nears

WASHINGTON – Former Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, whose Missouri Compromise delayed the start of the Civil War, is getting a cameo role in the Senate this week as the federal government careens toward shutdown.

The Los Angeles Times, in a story today, noted the sudden insertion of “The Great Compromiser” in a floor exchange Thursday between Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Mitch McConnell.

"All legislation is based on mutual consent,” Reid said. “Isn’t this the time to do just that?”

McConnell, a Kentuckian, offered that Clay, who served in both the Senate and House of Representatives,and also as Secretary of State “would have very much approved” of a House GOP bill to keep the government running for another week and fund the military through the end of the year.

McConnell was elected to the Senate seat that Clay briefly held twice in the early 1800s and again in mid-century.