Sen. McConnell new symbol of “hope and change?”

The GOP winning control of the Senate vaulted Sen. Mitch McConnell R-Ky. to the cover of the new Time Magazine – in a takeoff of that famous 2008 President Barack Obama campaign poster. McConnell is expected to become the new majority leader and Time Magazine’s Jay Newton-Small interviewed him on the Republican-run Senate road ahead, where he says “there will be no government shutdowns and no full repeal of Obamacare” but “rather a partial repeal through the appropriations process.”

From Time, highlights from the Newton-Small interview:

On the possibility of a government shutdown, McConnell tells TIME: “No. There is no possibility of a government shutdown. Remember me? I’m the guy that gets us out of government shutdowns.”

On his top priorities as Majority Leader: “Some examples of things that we’re very likely to be voting on: approving the Keystone XL pipeline, repealing the medical device tax, trying to restore the 40-hour work week, trying to get rid of the individual mandate. These are the kinds of things that I believe there is a bipartisan majority in the Senate to approve.”

On his top priority for 2016: “Well, it’ll be to keep the majority, of course.”