You Want to Be Called What, Senator? (Hoke)

A Conversation with Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)

You are pretty friendly with the president for a Democrat, though. He used to call you Nellie, right? And you didn't appreciate it.

Well, I thought it was not as macho as something like ''Hunter.'' I wanted something more macho, more in line with my outdoorsmanship. He told me Nellie was after Nellie Fox, the baseball player. But I told him it could also get confused with a horse. Or a nervous Nellie. And so last Friday, I said, ''Look, Mr. President, can we come up with a negotiated settlement like 'Benator'?'' I asked him also, for the sake of Karl Rove and the other person in the car, ''How long have we been negotiating?'' And he said, ''Four years.'' I said, ''Well, it's about time we get a negotiated settlement.'' I suspect, while I consider the negotiation over, there'll have to be a sidebar at some point on nicknames. He'll come back with something. He and I have enjoyed the back-and-forth banter, which really extends from the time we were governors together.

Senator, you

are no

'Benator.'

posted by Ace at 12:04 PM

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