From Washington Examiner:
The “Hillary Clinton model” has since been adopted by other senators who won their seats as high-profile candidates, such as Al Franken: Work hard; don’t seek out national media attention; defer to senior colleagues. That approach has more recently been upended by upstarts like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to the chagrin of longtime senators.
Clinton understood that her star power invited close scrutiny — and harsh criticism. As a defense, Clinton adopted a down-to-earth, deliberate style. Senators recall her work with adjectives better suited to a personable robot than a high-profile lawmaker: To Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Clinton was “extremely prepared”; Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, described her as “hardworking.”
In February 2001, Clinton stood on the Senate floor to deliver her first speech. Awkwardly, she spoke directly to the C-SPAN television camera, as if imitating a presidential address.
When Clinton’s legislative director, Ann O’Leary, met her afterward, Clinton stopped abruptly. O’Leary was alarmed.
“As a staffer, I thought, ‘Oh no, what went wrong?’ ” O’Leary recalled. “And then she said, ‘Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell my mother to watch C-SPAN.’ ”
Those private humanizing moments disarmed many Republicans who had demonized Clinton during the ‘90s.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had managed Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the House. But in the Senate he developed a lasting rapport with Hillary Clinton, whom he found funny and likable. They teamed up to expand health care for national guardsmen; today, Graham still credits Clinton with making it possible.
“She was a high-profile person who kind of blended in,” Graham recalled. “She didn’t use her celebrity status in an awkward way. She did her homework, she reached out to people, tried to do things, and a lot of people came to her because she was a popular senator.”
Clinton’s allies point to that spirit of bipartisanship, and her focus on New York, as key legacies in the Senate.
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