CNN's Dana Bash paid tribute to retiring Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski on Wednesday's New Day, touting that "it's the end of the Obama and the Mikulski eras; and the trail-blazing senator walked out the door — dropping important pearls of wisdom." Bash played up how the longtime Maryland politician is "retiring disappointed. Her old Senate colleague [Hillary Clinton] failed to become the first female president." She later underlined that "it's not just Mikulski's feminism that makes Clinton's defeat so crushing. It's that that her own Democratic Party lost touch with...working-class voters." [video below]
Anchor Chris Cuomo introduced Bash's report by spotlighting "the end of an era — trail-blazing Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who has served longer than any woman in the history of Congress, is going to call it a career." The "trail-blazing" or "trail-blazer" term appeared three times during the segment, as well as part of an on-screen graphic: "Trailblazing Senator Mikulski Saying Goodbye." However, former Republican Senators Nancy Kasselbaum Baker and Paula Hawkins actually preceded Mikulski as the first women elected to the U.S. Senate without some sort of family connection.
The CNN journalist first noted that "when Barbara Mikulski was elected senator thirty years ago, it was really a man's world....When she arrived, Senate women weren't allowed to wear pants. There were only two of them. She's now leaving as one of twenty." Bash included a picture of the outgoing Democratic politician with her only other colleague at the time: Senator Kasselbaum. She soon added her "retiring disappointed" phrase about Mrs. Clinton's defeat in the presidential election.
Bash pressed the senator about her reaction to the election:
DANA BASH: Do you think America was just not ready for a female president?
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI, (D), MARYLAND: I'll let the history books analyze that—
BASH: What do you think? You're a female trail-blazer. You have some informed opinions, I would think.
MIKULSKI: I think that there were a lot of biases against her. You know what we find when you break the glass ceiling? You end up living in a glass office, where everything you do is scrutinized.
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The correspondent also noted how the Democrat "sound[s] like Donald Trump." The Democrat bluntly corrected her: "No. I think I sound like Barbara Mikulski."
Bash later emphasized that Mikulski "made a long career out of people underestimating her," and that "she has a reputation for sometimes being intimidating — making male colleagues cower." She ended the report with a clip of the senator's "pearl of wisdom," where the Democrat advised her fellow politicians to "always listen to the people. They really do have the best ideas."
The full transcript of Dana Bash's report from CNN's New Day on December 14, 2016:
CHRIS CUOMO: The end of an era — trail-blazing Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who has served longer than any woman in the history of Congress, is going to call it a career. What is her departing message to her colleagues on both sides of the aisle?
She opened up to our chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Here's the story.
[CNN Graphic: "Trailblazing Senator Mikulski Saying Goodbye"]
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI, (D), MARYLAND: Marvelous, and—
DANA BASH (voice-over): When Barbara Mikulski was elected senator thirty years ago, it was really a man's world.
MIKULSKI: When I came to the Senate — you know, senators were Tom, Dick, and Harry. Now, they're—
BASH (on-camera): Literally—
MIKULSKI: Yeah. Now, they're Barb, Tammy, Diane.
BASH (voice-over): When she arrived, Senate women weren't allowed to wear pants. There were only two of them. She's now leaving as one of twenty — a bipartisan group Mikulski gathered for monthly dinners.
MIKULSKI: We disagree on issues, but what we said was, number one, we were going to be a zone of civility even when we disagree.
BASH: Mikulski is the longest serving woman in the history of Congress. Still, she's retiring disappointed. Her old Senate colleague failed to become the first female president.
HILLARY CLINTON: The best things really do come in small packages.
BASH (on-camera): On a scale of one to ten, Hillary Clinton's defeat for you was?
MIKULSKI: A 52 — I mean, really, I couldn't believe election night as I was watched the returns. And it was enormously disappointing.
BASH: Do you think America was just not ready for a female president?
MIKULSKI: I'll let the history books analyze that—
BASH: What do you think? You're — you're a female trail-blazer. You have some informed opinions, I would think.
MIKULSKI: I think that there were a lot of biases against her. You know what we find when you break the glass ceiling? You end up living in a glass office, where everything you do is scrutinized.
MIKULSKI (from speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention): On behalf of all the women who've broken down barriers for others—
BASH (voice-over): It's not just Mikulski's feminism that makes Clinton's defeat so crushing. It's that that her own Democratic Party lost touch with the kind of working-class voters this Baltimore native says she never stopped fighting for.
MIKULSKI: There are people right now in Baltimore that have — you know, three part-time jobs. Many of my constituents feel that they're either losing their job overseas, or they could lose it to a robot. So—
BASH (on-camera): You know, you sound like Donald Trump, right?
MIKULSKI: No. I think I sound—
BASH: Or does he sound like you?
MIKULSKI: No. I think I sound like Barbara Mikulski.
BASH (voice-over): She admits the election results make it tougher to leave — worried a lot of her work on ObamaCare and beyond may be undone.
MIKULSKI: You cannot take a wrecking ball to the very agencies that are designed to help American workers get on their feet.
BASH: Still, the first woman to ever chair the powerful Appropriations Committee tells us, behind the scenes, bipartisanship she witnessed in this historic room gives her hope.
MIKULSKI: We sit next to each other, and — rather than at the head table. Our job is to bring the committee together on the best ideas and the most affordable ideas — not to square off.
BASH: The four-foot-eleven senator made a long career out of people underestimating her.
MIKULSKI: I bring my own stool to have longitudinal parity. It's not easy being four-foot-eleven in an institution like this.
BASH: She has a reputation for sometimes being intimidating — making male colleagues cower.
MIKULSKI (from speech on Senate floor): No golden parachutes! Let them feel the hard landing that my constituents faced!
MIKULSKI: So, I've heard this rap before—
BASH (on-camera): Yeah—
MIKULSKI: And I think that when women are persistent and insistent, we're viewed as tough. Now, I view it as just being effective.
BASH (voice-over): One of her proudest achievements: legislation giving women equal pay for equal work — the first bill signed by the first black president.
MIKULSKI: He said this pen is yours.
BASH: Now, it's the end of the Obama and the Mikulski eras; and the trail-blazing senator walked out the door — dropping important pearls of wisdom.
MIKULSKI: Always listen to the people. They really do have the best ideas.
BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
ALISYN CAMEROTA (live): She's going to be missed in Congress. She's been around so long. I remember when I was just a budding young reporter — maybe, even an intern — and going out and interviewing her there on Capitol Hill.
CUOMO: And supposedly, a tough decision for her — because while she's been in there a long time, there's part of her that feels that now is when a Mikulski is going to be needed the most. This is going to be a time of taking stock in Congress about why you're there and what you want to fight for.
CAMEROTA: Right. I'm sure she will still have influence there in Washington, D.C.
