Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have no prepared remarks. I am trying to speak right from my heart, and my heart is full. I want to start off by thanking Tom for the very kind comments he made about serving with me. We met 10 years ago. He was that bomb thrower--still is a little bit--that Saxby talked about when they were elected 20 years ago. I was one of the people who came up, along with Lamar Alexander, George Voinovich, and Mark Pryor, for an orientation for new Senators so that when they got here we could actually spend some time and teach the new guys and gals the ropes. I remember the first day we convened and put them all in a big circle in Ted Stevens' office, a beautiful office here in the Capitol, and out of those 3 days Tom and Carolyn and Michelle and Barack began to bond and became friends. I didn't know how close friends they were until about 4 or 5 years ago. Barack Obama had given the State of the Union address. I was sitting on the Republican side. There was a time when we actually went back and forth to try to mix things up. The President finished his speech, and there is no rope line at those speeches. The President came along to shake hands with people. I was sitting next to Tom, and we walked down so we could say hi to the President. I will never forget what the President said to him. In just the quiet between the two of them--they embraced, and the President said to him: Are you still praying for me? And very quietly, Tom Coburn said: Every night.…”