Tuesday, November 04, 2008

McCain's Pitch-Perfect Statesmanlike Concession Speech

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I screwed up royally tonight by going to a party thinking I could blog from there. I'm home now and I'll try catching up. On the long drive home I heard McCain's incredible concession speech and couldn't help think that if he had spoken like that during the election he might have still lost but at least he'd still have his honor and dignity. The speech started with him shutting up some typical Republican yahoos booing President-elect Obama. McCain seemed genuinely mortified and gave them a lesson in patriotism . They need it-- but it's what the GOP has turned itself into with the coursening influence of hatemongers and fascists made semi-repsectible, cheap carney show acts like Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Palin and Hannity.

And if his speech was ill-appreciated by the fascist swine in the audience he surrounded himself with-- the Republican base-- it will be lauded by the American public. Fox has the whole speech. I'll just lay out the pieces that moved me most:
A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him.

(BOOING)

Please.

To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now...

(APPLAUSE)

Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans...

(APPLAUSE)

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

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5 Comments:

At 9:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, that was good to hear. Though seeing it, McCain looked distracted and not especially convincing. I'm sure he meant well by it, and it will help, but it would have been better if some visual intensity had accompanied it.

Now, it remains to be seen what Obama can manage with the bunch of Don Knotts Democrats that run Congress. And if we can get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan, sometime hopefully in the next century.

 
At 10:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

McCain Concession Speech: (FULL VIDEO 32 min)
http://cnn-election.com/2008/index.php?q=McCain-Concession-Speech

 
At 11:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey hope the party was nice (mid week partying ...hmm) By the way I have some interesting details about McCain's speech on my blog post (URL below)

 
At 6:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought the speech coming from him was amazing. But he didn't run a decent or honorable campaign, just the opposite. If he had he would have done better. I watched C-Span call in show last night and it was mainly the base of the party not accepting reality and sputtering on about terrorists, muslims, scared and frightened people who in one case didn't want to call himself an american anymore. These people aren't going away, the authoritarian personality type will not self reflect or soul search and will search for anyone but themselves or their ideology to blame.

 
At 9:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was what was needed. I think he looked sincere. He has been a politician for a long time. He was as sincere as he could be.

His big mistake was taking the Bush team to run his campaign. We can only hope this means at least a lull in that sort of campaigning. It did not work. It was ugly.

He should not have allowed himself to be a victim. Oh well. Buh-bye.

 

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