Heidi Alexander: “I will bet Senator Isakson is a little bit surprised that his farewell address would produce such an eruption of…”

“I will bet Senator Isakson is a little bit surprised that his farewell address would produce such an eruption of bipartisan speeches, both in the luncheon we just had for nearly 100 Senators--almost everybody was there, Democrats and Republicans--and then the 50 or so Senators who are going to speak on the floor. As I listened carefully to Senator Isakson's own remarks about bipartisanship, it kind of reminded me of the preacher on Sunday talking to the congregation saying: I am not so worried about what you do during this 1 hour during church. It is what you do between now and the next Sunday during the 1 hour in church. I think what Johnny Isakson is saying is that the speeches about bipartisanship are honorable and good, but what he would like to suggest to us is that what we need to do is have a little bit better behavior, follow those speeches a little bit better between now and the next time we have a group of speeches. Johnny learned a long time ago that if all you want to do is take a position or make a speech, you don't need to go to all the trouble to come to the U.S. Senate. You can get a radio program or get a street corner. If you want to come to the U.S. Senate, you are supposed to get something done. I like to say to our constituents in Tennessee that I encourage them to look at Washington, DC, as if it were a split-screen television set. On the one side, you see where most people are watching.…”