Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., got down on one knee yesterday before the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. In his hand was a light pink, sling-back pump.

"It is my shoe!" Pelosi said as Reichert made his Prince Charming-like presentation during her weekly news conference, a forum in which she usually bashes the policies of Reichert's fellow Republicans. "That is such a gentleman."

"I know it's a bit of an odd-fellow, or odd-woman, mix," she said. "But the speaker and I have been talking about health care and national security now for several years, and I find that he and I have a lot in common in the way we see the problem."

For his part, Mr. Gingrich, who helped lead the impeachment fight against President Bill Clinton, called Mrs. Clinton "very practical" and "very smart and very hard working," adding, "I have been very struck working with her."