A Conservative Senator in New York

Six years ago, at a party, I was introduced to the man who would soon be elected the junior senator from New York. Although he was fast becoming a celebrity, he seemed to me uncomfortable with the attention his presence attracted, not at all at ease in the role of Very Important Person.

But I was introduced as an Alaskan, and for a few moments he turned from the political business at hand and began to talk about the musk ox. He had helped to transplant musk oxen to mainland Alaska for the natives there to raise. There had been romance for him in the project, and he was immensely relieved to recall it for a moment or two and discuss it with someone who just might be peripherally interested. I decided then he would never make a politician.

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Patricia S. Coyne

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Six years ago, at a party, I was introduced to the man who would soon be elected the junior senator from New York. Although he was fast becoming a celebrity, he seemed to me uncomfortable with the attention his presence attracted, not at all at ease in the role of Very Important Person.

But I was introduced as an Alaskan, and for a few moments he turned from the political business at hand and began to talk about the musk ox. He had helped to transplant musk oxen to mainland Alaska for the natives there to raise. There had been romance for him in the project, and he was immensely relieved to recall it for a moment or two and discuss it with someone who just might be peripherally interested. I decided then he would never make a politician.