Reaching Across the Aisle

On the eve of the big election, I would like to make a final plea to a group most Huff Po bloggers haven't been specifically focused on trying to reach. And no, I don't mean these so-called "undecided" voters. Let's face it. If you're still undecided at this point, you might want to consult a physician. No, I want to speak to all the Republicans out there. I know many of you are getting mighty frothy as you see the lead that Senator Obama has over Senator McCain in all of the polls. You guys are used to winning. You like winning. I don't blame you. Winning is more fun than losing. (At least as I recall. It's been a while.) But your vote shouldn't just be about blindly sticking to a team. Because as I talk to so many of you on the right, it seems you're all hungry for change, the same as those of us on the blue team. It's weird, because I remember, not so long ago, you guys really did love and support the last president you voted into office... twice. Now I can't find too many among you to say anything nice about him. Even John McCain has been vehemently repudiating him out there on the campaign trail. And that's after eight years of marching in lock step with him. Now with his approval ratings at historic lows, President Bush is the first incumbent president in memory to not campaign for his party's candidate. He's keeping such a low profile that he voted by absentee ballot just so as not to further damage McCain's chances with an election day reminder of their association.

Let's face it. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have been disastrous for the country and for the Republican party. During the primaries, all we heard about were the divisions within the Democratic party over the battle between Senators Clinton and Obama. But the fact is that they had a shared vision. A vision of a country that learned from the mistakes of the past eight years and was determined to do better. There is a hunger out there for real change. A drive to aspire to our better selves and become the great nation we have been and we all know we can be again. Those three simple words of Senator Obama's slogan speaks to all of our hearts now, more than ever. "Yes we can." The Republican party, however, needs to regroup. To decide if they want to be the party of small government and fiscal conservatism or if they want to be the party of imperialistic unilateralism and religious fundamentalism. Over the past eight years, John McCain has played every side and, in so doing, lost all credibility. I wish him well but his campaign this time around has reflected the ambivalence within his party. If you guys were a sports franchise, you'd have to call this election a transitional time. A rebuilding season.

So Republican friends... as you step into the voting booth, just pause for a moment. Think about how certain you were about George W. Bush being the right man for the job. John McCain is a good man but he's not the right man for right now. He's lost his way. We need a new way. To paraphrase Senator McCain who pointedly quipped to Senator Obama in the last debate that if he wanted to run against George Bush, he should have run four years ago. If you wanted to vote for John McCain, you should have done it eight years ago.

Comments

[CreekFeet]

I never liked John McCain better than when---oh, alright, I never actually liked John McCain, except to prefer him slightly over some alternatives. But I really had to admire him when he made his concession speech. He was elegant, eloquent and gracious. I hope his party will follow his lead in accepting defeat respectfully.

Like you said, they haven't lost in a while. McCain demonstrated last night how a loser should behave.