Surely Barack Obama knew what he'd be up against when he tried to bring healing to Washington:

McConnell took nine days to return a congratulatory phone call from Reid after the election, but the Republican leader returned a flurry of other calls earlier. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said McConnell called President-elect Barack Obama the day after the election - Obama returned the call a day later - but took another week before calling Reid back on Nov. 13. Stewart said he did not know the reason for the delay, but did say McConnell had a long list of callbacks to make.

McConnell is also warning Reid that the weakened Republican minority won't be bending to a far Left agenda:

"What I'm saying to the new president and the new administration: ‘Do big things, and do them in the center, and you'll be surprised at how much support you might have,' " he said at the news conference.

Otherwise, McConnell warned, his party would stand together and block a far-left agenda.

"You're likely to have very significant unity among Republicans," he said.

Not exactly negotiating from a position of power, especially given that the letter to Reid was signed by two incumbents who have yet to secure their seats, but it's nice to see some spunk.