In Praise of . . . John McCain
Posted by Michael Cohen
Over here at DA we're pretty hard on John McCain's foreign policy and national security views . . . and pretty much everything else. But yesterday in his remarks to the NAACP McCain said something really wonderful about Barack Obama and it bears repeating here:
Let me begin with a few words about my opponent. Don't tell him I said this, but he is an impressive fellow in many ways. He has inspired a great many Americans, some of whom had wrongly believed that a political campaign could hold no purpose or meaning for them. His success should make Americans, all Americans, proud. Of course, I would prefer his success not continue quite as long as he hopes. But it makes me proud to know the country I've loved and served all my life is still a work in progress, and always improving.
Senator Obama talks about making history, and he's made quite a bit of it already. And the way was prepared by this venerable organization and others like it. A few years before the NAACP was founded, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the nomination of an African-American to be the presidential nominee of his party. Whatever the outcome in November, Senator Obama has achieved a great thing -- for himself and for his country -- and I thank him for it.
Well said Senator McCain.
I have to admit it; that's pretty nice. Well done.
Posted by: Dan Kervick | July 17, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Say what you like about pandering to an audience, say whatever you will about rhetoric, McCain should be applauded for these comments. Not that it has been terribly surprising, but this election year has been insidiously divisive. It is comments like these - and like Obama's consistent praise of McCain's wartime heroism despite Gen. Clark's comments - that make the prospect of bipartisanship in the next administration more than a foolish hope.
If this same attitude could be carried over to the ISSUES - that is, if the two Senators could acknowledge their stunning similarity on many policy issues - then I believe this election would be far more civil. However, in lieu of this development, it is heartening to find that the candidates do respect each o