The Most Moving Moment Came from John McCain
The most moving moment for me, actually, was John McCain's concession speech. Winners nearly always look good and strong. Flush with his historic and almost unbelievable victory, Barack Obama had an easier night of it. It was for McCain to do the hard thing: to not only accept loss and graciously congratulate the winner, but to encourage the rest of the country, that had fallen silent last night, to offer their blessings to the new President-elect and his family.
I believed John McCain last night. It is true that no man alive has served his country more than he. But the abundantly decent and brave McCain went on an unfortunate detour during his campaign. He distanced himself from the John McCain of the 2000 race, who many Democrats I know had found so much easier to accept, if not embrace, than Bush. Suddenly last night, like magic, the old McCain appeared and addressed his supporters, his decency and courage front and center, once again.
And I think McCain probably felt, in his heart, that he did not lose the race. Bush did. One final dividend for the GOP from this administration as they prepare to turn out the lights. This is really the final verdict on Bush.
The greatest thing we can do now, those of us who support Obama, is hold him to the same standards to which we held Bush. Let's face it. We've worked Bush over pretty badly these past few years. It is time for us to face that reality from conservatives, especially with the Triple Crown in place.
It's a celebration for everyone. Not African-Americans alone. Obama could not have won without successfully eliciting the support of millions of ethnically and racially diverse Americans, most of them white, who believed he represented the best hope for real change in Washington.
As a friend at work said to me today, Obama has already done more to enhance America's reputation around the world, just by getting elected, than Bush has done in eight years.
There are stains you think might never wash away. Slavery, Vietnam, the 2000 election, Iraq. This election, however, comes closest. Something good is happening. Something's right. America is great when we do great things. I believe this will prove to be a great thing for our country and the world.
God bless Barack Obama and his family. And, truly, God bless America.
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I hope I speak for many others when I say,
"Senator McCain -- apologize. President-Elect Obama does not need it, and does not expect it. We do, the American people who love this country, who honor your service, who have honored your candidacy, and were horrified by what it turned into in the last two years (and in particular the last nine months). ***Your*** words, and that of ***your*** runing mate -- mattered. ***You*** accused Obama of being a socialist (yes, you did). Your campaign continually accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists" (yes, they did). Your surrogates spoke repeatedly of the "danger" to the nation in voting for Obama. In doing so, you tried to portray Obama -- and ***us*** -- as traitors. The cries of "Traitor", "Kill Him", and "Hang Him" resonate in our minds, and our souls. Your words, and those of your minions, were the true danger to democracy, and undermine the many decades of your service.
"There is precedent for a washing away of sins. Look to the apartheid courts in South Africa. There is abundant forgiveness granted to those who ask for it. Man up, Senator. Admit the misdeeds. Admit that rather than stirring people's emotions, you and your campaign inflamed them. Admit that your campaign architects, disciples of that greatest enemy-of-state Karl Rove, were blinded by ambition. Apologize to America, and acknowledge that there is a better way. And ***then*** I will fully accept the graciousness of your concession."
Either John McCain returned from his campaign to his genuine self, or he's schizophrenic. You pick.
Here, here, Mr. Baldwin - well written! I agree that we worked Bush over, but he did and does have it coming. I too was happy to hear McCain's concession speech as he did it with class and dignity - the ways he should have run his campaign. Had he kept to his true self and not played dirty politics, McCain would have gotten better results.
Impressive are all the comments I'm reading from people around the world about Obama's election. A man from Sweden wrote to my post on mybarackobama.com prior to the election. He stated his hope that America would vote for the person who would best portray America's kindness and caring rather than the person who would portray selfishness and illogical aggressiveness. I bet that Swede is as happy as we are!
I hope your brother Stephen sees the light in this next year! I really like him as an actor; hopefully he'll come around politically... ;-) I adopted your description of McBush and Bible Spice. That was just too funny!!!
Alec,
I am a fan and agree with you on this post. Unfortunately the McCain during this campaign was a McCain who was unhappy with the tactics he was using. Why he continued to use them I will never know.
"The greatest thing we can do now, those of us who support Obama, is hold him to the same standards to which we held Bush."
Thank you for saying that. I have been deluged with people, liberals mostly, who are trying to push the "let's all come together" line that they would have been appalled at if I had said it during the bush administration.
Obama's feet will be held to the fire. He will be judged. I actually hope he is up to it. As former military I learned long ago to respect the office if not the man.
First off, I agree with almost everything said by Mr. Baldwin. I still think Obama's speech at Grant Park was most amazing. But what really caught me in the essay was the line "As a friend at work said to me". We often forget that these well-paid famous people don't just sit around looking for the camera, but they put in many, many hours of work, sometimes more in one stretch than most people. As a professional musician, I am always confronted with how much per hour I can get, but that doesn't come close to making up for the years I've spent perfecting my craft for little or no money, or for the weeks, or sometimes months, when there are no jobs to be found. And it's the same with celebrities. So the claim of "Hollywood elite" always falls flat on my ears, because these people work very hard, and are just as much a part of the working class as the rest of us. They're usually just prettier.
It was the only moment that moved me, truthfully, and I did not vote for either Senator McCain or Senator Obama. A gracious speech, gracefully and sincerely delivered. It also reminded me of McCain 2000.
McCain would have done better if he had endorsed Obama.
I disagree. I thought his concession speech was mediocre, at best, and eminently forgettable. I do think, however, that the most moving moment came when McCain was confronted with that pitiful, misguided woman, who, in searching for the most "allowable" but "demeaning" descriptor she could think of, said that Obama "Is an Arab." There stood pathetic McCain, suddenly and so simply confronted with the payback for his preposterous and ugly campaign: it was little more than a nanosecond, but I could almost see McCain reach down, to whatever part of him that is still thoughtful, and struggle to refute the statement and even offer one of the weirdest commendations ever. But it was at that moment that I felt almost sorry for him and felt I was witnessing an agonizingly cosmic and private struggle of a man who finally saw the wages of his thunderously peculiar sins.
I'm going to disagree here.
I was actually impressed with McCain when he ran that ad the night that Obama was nominated, putting partisanship aside for the night and congratulating him. That showed class.
He also was reasonably gracious on the night of his own nomination. But it was far overshadowed by Gov. Palin's performance the previous night, both for it's electricity level and for the stark difference in tone. Knowing that McCain had chosen Palin and turned her loose to go negative like that, it was hard to see much good in his own less-negative address.
As for Election night... has their ever been a Presidential loser who was not gracious on election night. I thought throughout that it's going to seem weird having them praise a guy who they said was a socialist who palled around with terrorists.
Had they not gone so maliciously negative during the campaign, there would have been fewer boos on the night of the election. Big deal that he tried to qwell it. That's what losers are expected to do.
It was a standard concession speech. And for my taste he focused too much on what a wonderful thing it was for African Americans. It was a great night for all Americans.
I keep hearing about the graciousness of McCain's concession speech. The speech was not written by McCain but by his speech writer. Did you expect it to be anything other than gracious? Yes, he delivered the speech well. This, however, does not change my opinion of him. I will always remember John McCain for his slash and burn campaign strategy. McCain/Palin and their surrogates made every attempt to smear Obama while encouraging their base to loathe and fear him. I am so glad we choose Hope over Fear.
My biggest concern now is all the hate that was stirred during the McCain/Palin campaign. It really bothers me that so many people in our country could and did follow the hate message, and shout out statements that are abominable. And, it further bothers me that it was not stopped when it should have been. Those followers are still with us, and that scares me. Where will they take that hate, now that it has been brought to the surface? My hope is that we all can progress past this latest display of negative outbursts, and they will remain only that. But, I wonder.
There's a lot of hate coming from Obama supporters, too. Just look at all the nasty, personal remarks on this site about anyone who opposed Obama. I did not support either candidate, BTW.
It was the first time I had heard a speech from McCain which made me feel that he was speaking from his heart and soul.
His political speeches gave me the feeling that each sentence was colored by his brain telling him: "Now what can I say next to get me some votes".
That was all stripped away on his concession speech, and he sounded like a real "Mensch".
I will also add that I'm tired of seeing people like Bush and Palin in government. There are so many bright and qualified people out there that these people are a joke by comparison. They don't belong there and never did. And If I keep seeing people like this I will be forced to conclude that there is something fundamentally wrong with our political process and government.
I had no real impression of John McCain before this election. Frankly, I usually find republican candidates very unappealing. But my initial impression of McCain during the beginning of the campaign was surprisingly respectful. But when he nominated Sarah Palin, someone who is totally unqualified and whose values I find offensive, I became angry and disgusted. In fact, he put this country at great risk by nominating Palin. Additionally, his negative campaign was ugly and tried to exploit a culture war. He may have been a war hero. But now he is just shameful in my eyes. I don't see someone with that kind of judgment even belonging in the Senate.
If he'd been this gracious throughout the campaign he might not've gotten dump-trucked by 200 electoral votes.
Had that JMC shown up throughout the GE, minus Palin.....I probably would have been an undecided voter up to the last minute!
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