He’s been gone 30 years from the U.S. Senate, where he served as majority leader, but the tradition of honor and cooperation set by the late Howard Baker continues to govern Tennessee’s two Republican senators.
First it was picked up by Sen. Lamar Alexander, a former Baker aide. And now Sen. Bob Corker says he also plays by the same rules.
“It’s beneficial in our state to have two people who don’t compete with each other in any way. Two people who wish only the very best for the other. Two people who celebrate the success of the other. Two people who are very different and who have very different backgrounds and have focused on very different sets of issues and candidly follow each other’s lead,” Corker told the Examiner.
Tennessee Senators Bob Corker, left, and Lamar Alexander, both Republicans, have an unusually close working relationship that helps their state. AP Photo
When he decided to run for the Senate, Corker said he sought out Alexander’s advice — and got it.
“It’s a great relationship. It’s rare. I mean, you watch in the Senate and you know sometimes people of the same party have more rivalries than you can imagine, and that’s certainly not the case for us,” Corker said.
For proof, Alexander recently wrote the Time Magazine entry naming Corker one of the nation’s “Top 100 Most Influential People.” Alexander, a former Cabinet secretary and presidential candidate wrote, “If he is not president himself, Corker is an obvious choice for secretary of state or treasury.”
Of their mutual admiration, Corker said, “I think it serves our state well.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
