First Rice, President Bush's nominee for secretary of State, listened humbly as Sen. Dianne Feinstein called the nominee a "remarkable woman" and recounted her illustrious rise from segregated Alabama to provost of Stanford University and presidential adviser.
Less than an hour later, though, Rice was straight-backed and squinting as the junior senator from California, Barbara Boxer, accused her of twisting the truth on the reasons for the Iraq invasion, overlooking the war dead and all but missing the boat on tsunami relief.
It was an afternoon straight out of "Advise and Consent," the 1962 film about party politics in the confirmation process. But replacing the movie's cast of male stars were three women from California playing out a real-life drama not only to decide the nation's next top diplomat, but help set the tone for relations between Bush and the Democrats in this session of Congress.
If the first day of hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was any indication, that tone is likely to be more of a din. It erupted during a testy exchange between Boxer and Rice, in which the senator set aside the usual decorum and the usually cool and collected diplomat got riled.
Boxer accused Rice of shifting her assessments of how close Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had been to producing a nuclear weapon.Retorted Rice: "No one was saying that he would have to have a weapon within a year for it to be worth it to go to war."
Boxer: "Well, if you can't admit to this mistake, I hope that you'll...."
Rice: "Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like, but I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity. Thank you very much."
There was not so much as a "you're welcome" from Boxer, who was the most confrontational Democrat on the panel, holding up little cardboard signs of contradictory statements by Rice in a presentation that was carefully prepared and sweeping.
When the nominee mentioned that the recent tsunami in South Asia was a "wonderful opportunity" to show off the heart of the American people, Boxer promptly took exception to her phraseology.
"Now the tsunami was one of the worst tragedies of our lifetime -- one of the worst -- and it's going to have a 10-year impact on rebuilding that area. I was very disappointed in your statement. I think you blew the opportunity," Boxer said.
When Rice took awhile in her opening remarks to get around to the war in Iraq, Boxer counted the paragraphs and accused her of ignoring the wounded and the dead.
"So, in your statement it takes you to page 3 to mention the word `Iraq.' Then you mention it in the context of elections -- which is fine -- but you never even mention indirectly the 1,366 American troops that have died, or the 10,372 who have been wounded."
"I mourn the dead and honor their service," Rice declared, sounding defensive.
Suggesting that the nominee did not have the military expertise of the current secretary of State, Colin L. Powell, Boxer inquired whether Rice had seen the movie "Fog of War," a recent Vietnam War documentary. Apparently assuming she hadn't, the senator then proceeded to explain that "war is a nightmare."
Never the shrinking violet, Boxer was in rare form. Fresh from the November election with another six years in the Senate, she continued a pattern of defiance that began earlier this month when she challenged the certification of Bush's election.
No one is expecting Boxer's efforts to change the outcome for Rice -- who will almost certainly win confirmation, perhaps as early as Wednesday. But that wasn't really the objective.
For Democrats, this was an opportunity to make points and score points as they began a second term working with a president who often outmaneuvered them.
"I'll be back for more rounds," Boxer vowed after the hearing adjourned, marking a sharp turn from the cordiality with which the day opened.
Feinstein is not exactly chummy with Rice, but they share some common interests. The senator is an alumnus of Stanford, where Rice was provost for nearly six years. They both belong to the Aspen Institute Middle East Strategy Group, which meets regularly to discuss world problems. They had a quiet dinner at Rice's invitation earlier this month at the Watergate Hotel and discussed the Middle East.
Rice asked Feinstein to fill the ceremonial role of introducing her to the Senate panel at the start of the hearing. Protocol recommends a senator from the nominee's home state do the honors, and Feinstein expressed no reservations, despite her pointed criticism of the administration's handling of the war.
"This is truly a remarkable woman," Feinstein said in an interview later, expanding on her praise. Feinstein said she thought Rice might be taken more seriously by world leaders because of her closeness to Bush, unlike Powell, who was sometimes seen as outside the loop.
