With his time running out in Congress, U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell's legacy is being shaped by history and his party polling.

After McConnell stepped down from Senate leadership found most Republicans don't care for the Kentucky senator, and some of his colleagues feel the same.

But on Friday, the University of Louisville welcomed McConnell and one of his friends in the Senate.

Our Jon Lefler has more.

The McConnell center at the University of Louisville nurtures students with an interest in leadership and politics.

McConnell visited Friday with one of his colleagues, the junior senator from Arkansas, Tom cotton.

You know how in the Senate we all say where my good friend from our good friend, that it's usually not true.

When I say I think of Tom as a good friend.

I mean it.

Cotton says he consistently voted to keep McConnell as Senate leader.

Not just the Senate majority leader, I say, but to being a legislative leader in any legislature, whether it's the United States Senate or your city Council, is recognizing that you're not the boss and that traditional sense that you have to collect the votes, you have to appeal to the people that you need to vote for you on any given day or measure, and that those people, are going to be there afterwards as well.

Cotton gave this parting advice to the undergraduate McConnell scholars.

If you're 18 or 22 and you want to get involved in politics, the simplest thing to do is to find the candidate who inspires you and in whom you believe, or a race that you think is really important and show up and say, I'm here, I want to work.

I want to help us win in November.

And if you do that, the earlier you do it in the campaign, the more likely you're going to be doing something even more meaningful when November comes around.

And I promise you that that's all it takes.

There's there's no secret.

You don't have to have special connections.

You don't have to be rich.

You don't study political science.

No offense.

If you do, you, you don't need to come from a political family.

All you have to do is to show up, raise your hand and say, I'm here and I want to work hard, and you'll get lots of opportunities in politics very fast.

That chat was part of the McConnell Center's Distinguished Speaker Series.

That program started in 1993.

For Kentucky edition, I'm John Leffler.