I was a big admirer of Russ Feingold when he served Wisconsin in the United States Senate despite the fact that he had a tendency to vote for George W. Bush nominees I thought he should oppose. He was often alone, or nearly so, among Democrats in showing deference to the opposing president’s more controversial picks for the courts and administration. I had a grudging respect for that.

The parallel today is Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican who frequently joins with far more moderate members of his party to approve Democratic nominees. The trait stands out more with Graham because little else about his political career has remained static. He went from being John McCain’s wingman to Donald Trump’s chief apologist, and seems to move further to the far right with each passing month. But he’s still willing to vote for Biden’s nominees, and that will quite likely include Biden’s coming pick to replace Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.

He’s even supportive of the broad goal of picking a black woman for the position, stating on Face the Nation Sunday, “In the history of our country, we’ve only had five women serve and two African American men. So let’s make the court more like America.” His support would be guaranteed if Biden chooses J. Michelle Childs, a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday broke with several of his Republican colleagues by seemingly expressing support for President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate the first-ever Black woman to the Supreme Court.

In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Graham (R-S.C.) — a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — also appeared to endorse J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. District Court judge in his home state of South Carolina, for the seat held by the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

I’m not sure why Graham stays consistent with this approach when he shifts in every other way, but I won’t complain. In general, I think qualified people should be approved by members of the opposing party. My main complaint with Republican nominees in recent decades is that they are frequently either lacking qualifications or have obvious ulterior motives for taking the position.  In some cases, the GOP is staffing departments with people who oppose the existence or core objectives of the organization they’ll lead. In those cases, I don’t think it’s proper to defer to the president.

As for Graham, he shows so little political courage that I can’t give him too much credit for sticking his neck out, but he’s bucking the affirmative action line, and I’m grateful for that.

Senate Republicans and conservative commentators have repeatedly criticized Biden for committing to selecting a Black woman to fill Breyer’s seat, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) suggesting in a local radio interview on Friday that whomever the president picks will be a “beneficiary” of affirmative action.

But Graham distanced himself from Wicker’s remarks on Sunday, saying, “Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs. Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There is no affirmative action component if you pick her.”

Ironically, the rare moments when Graham acts like a reasonable and decent person just make me dislike him more because they reveal that he knows better and still chooses to behave like an impossible asshole most of the time. But I’ll give him limited credit where it’s due, as it is here.