Twenty-six years ago, I became the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. I was the first, but I made sure I wasn't the only.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
For the first half of my adult life, I was a Democrat.
I was a Democrat for a period of time early on. And then I was also an independent. And then I became a Republican.
In the good old days when I was a senator, I was my own man.
I am really proud to be a part in whatever way of women becoming active in the political scene. I think it was the first time that people came to terms with the reality of what it meant to have a Senate made up of 98 men and two women.
I became a Republican in 1951, the first year I could vote.
I became a Republican when a very wise young lady asked me how I could remain a Democrat when I didn't agree with what they stood for and did agree with what the Republicans supported.
Well, I was 29 years old when I came to the United States Senate, and I have learned a lot.
I started out as a Democrat.
I was a Clinton Democrat for twenty years.
It took us 200 years to elect the first Democratic woman to the Senate in her own right, and that's Barbara Mikulski. Six years later, we had a grand slam: We elected four new Democratic women to the Senate. Sen. Mikulski now has some company.