Hillary Clinton Can 'Really Hold Her Liquor,' and Other Testimonials of GOP Admiration
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joke and embrace before Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become the next Secretary of State in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 24, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesAs first lady, Hillary Clinton personified the American left for the GOP, and as such inspired intense vitriol. As she campaigned for the Senate in 2000, many wondered what kind of combustion would occur if she were elected and shared a chamber with some of her most passionate critics. What happened was more like a lovefest, as many former enemies professed their admiration.
At a National Prayer Breakfast in the spring of 2001, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas got up to speak when he noticed Hillary Clinton. “I came here today prepared to share about this experience in my life that has caused great suffering, the result of which has deepened my faith,” Brownback said, according to an individual present at the meeting who later spoke with Joshua Green, then at the Atlantic. “But I’m overcome now with only one thought.” As Green reports, “He confessed to having hated Clinton and having said derogatory things about her. Through God, he now recognized his sin. Then he turned to her and asked, ‘Mrs. Clinton, will you forgive me?’ Clinton replied that she would, and that she appreciated the apology. ‘It was an extraordinary moment,’ the member told me.”