John McCain goes to bat for Hillary

John McCain dug deep and found his clichéd maverick side on the Senate floor today, taking the microphone (so to speak) to call for Hillary Clinton to be confirmed this afternoon by unanimous consent rather than by a time-consuming roll call vote. He had, reportedly, spoken to Texas Sen. John Cornyn (the architect of today’s vote, which is designed to embarrass Hillary — and, by extension — Bill Clinton).

This isn’t the first time that John McCain has praised Hillary. During the primaries last year, they were rarely seen trading barbs, and he famously said of her:

Sen. Clinton has earned great respect for her tenacity and courage. The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received. “As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach. I am proud to call her my friend.”

When she conceded the primary to Obama, McCain’s top blogger wrote a paean to her and, after Sarah Palin joined the ticket, there were many, many references to Hillary (and her greatness) from the Republican side of the race. So, maybe it’s not that maverick-y after all… but what about McCain ever really was?

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