Democrat Cory Booker says he will miss his ‘most unexpected friend’ in the Senate, Lindsey Graham

Cory Booker calling Lindsey Graham his "most unexpected friend" is one of those small moments that says more than a week of floor speeches. These two men did not agree on much. Booker is about as progressive as the Senate produces, and Graham spent decades as one of the chamber's most reliably hawkish, establishment Republicans. Yet Booker's own story about approaching Graham on criminal justice reform, getting told no because of a primary fight, and then having Graham come back to the table anyway once the politics allowed it, is exactly the kind of legislating that used to be normal and now gets treated like a novelty act.

That detail matters more than the sentimental tribute around it. Graham didn't ditch his politics to work with Booker. He waited until he had room to move, then moved. That's not weakness, it's how a legislator survives a tough primary and still gets things done. Too many of his colleagues, on both sides, skip the second half of that equation entirely and just hide behind the first.

We'd be lying if we said Graham didn't frustrate plenty of conservatives over the years, and this editorial page said so plenty of times. But there's a difference between disagreeing with someone's votes and pretending decency across the aisle is some lost art that only shows up in eulogies. Booker didn't have to make this video. He did, because the relationship was real, not performative.

The Senate loses something when a guy like Graham, who could pick up the phone and work with someone he had no political reason to trust, leaves the building. Worth remembering the next time cross-aisle friendship gets treated as a punchline instead of the job.