There was the pool furniture in the background. There were the tropical drinks, which looked to be margaritas garnished with cherries. And then there were the deported prisoner and the American senator,

Van Hollen, 66, got his start in politics as a staffer for former Maryland U.S. Sen. Charles Mathias in the 1980s, going on to staff the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, later, Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer.