Reported in The Hill:
"If we go into default, [the president] will say that Republicans are making the economy worse ... The president will have the bully pulpit to blame the Republicans for all of this destruction," McConnell said, indicating that default would hand the re-election to Obama.
"I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy," McConnell said. . .
McConnell told conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham that the president has only offered Republicans two options: either "sign onto a bad deal that raises taxes or go into a default."
"Not on my watch," he said.
McConnell laughed off the opposition to his proposal from within his own party. "There are always differences among Republicans," he said. "There's a good deal of conservative support for what I laid out yesterday