By Jessica Benton Cooney, CQ Staff

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not mince words Tuesday when he described the current political conditions: “it is no secret that the president is not that popular and that we don’t have a robust economy,” he said.

Speaking to the Utah delegation meeting in downtown Minneapolis, McConnell also doubted that the Senate would gain enough Republican seats this election year to become the majority. “I’d love to tell you I’d be majority leader next year, but there is virtually no chance we will get Senate back.” The Senate currently has 49 Republican members.

McConnell said he is hopeful, though, that the Republicans will maintain the 41 seats or more they need to block floor votes on Senate rules, something he called the “firewall.” He said he wants “to have enough firemen and firewomen to help [President] McCain next year,” especially as the Democrats “want to have another great society . . . they want to turn us into France.”

McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky, is up for his fourth term against Democrat Bruce Lunsford, in a race he is favored to win. McConnell has a large fundraising advantage with close to $9.1 million cash on hand as of the end of June, while Lunsford had $1.3 million.

Speaking to the very friendly crowd from what Utah Republican Party Vice Chairman Todd Weiler called the “reddest of the red states,”

McConnell told the very friendly crowd from what Utah Republican Party Vice Chairman Todd Weiler called the “reddest of the red states” that Robert F. Bennett and Orrin G. Hatch are his “best friends in the Senate.” He thanked Utah for sending “smart, respected and effective” senators to Washington.

To top off the delegation lunch, Lee Greenwood, the country music star and composer of “God Bless the USA,” sang to the delegates.