Nov 06, 2008 05:37
I admit, I'm relatively new to the political scene. Unlike many Americans, I hadn't heard much about John McCain until the recent presidential primaries. But I understand he was fairly well known. He had a reputation, and a pretty good one at that.
I was told I would see a man of principle, unafraid to stand up to his own party when being quiet would be politically expedient. I was told I would see a man who refused to "take the low road to the highest office in the land." I was told I would see a maverick, a straight-talker, a politician who didn't posture.
Maybe I wasn't looking at the right times. Or maybe my pro-Obama leanings blinded me. But I didn't see that John McCain.
I saw a man who was more eager to mud-sling than to talk about his own positions. I saw a man running a desperate, disjointed campaign with an ever-changing message. I saw a man who tried to change his image repeatedly based on the political need of the moment. I saw a John McCain focusing not on solutions to the country's problems, but on The Evil That Is Obama.
Until yesterday.
During his concession speech, I found myself wondering, "Who is this John McCain? Where has he been the last several months?" When the crowd of his supporters heckled and booed as Barack Obama's name was mentioned, McCain hushed them, calling Obama, "my president." He took responsibility for the failure of his campaign. He called on Republicans everywhere to support his former opponent in finding solutions for the country.
During his speech, and afterward, as I pondered it, admiration for the man bubbled up me, taking me by surprise. Here, at last, it seems, is the John McCain I was told I would see. Perhaps his defeat finally freed him of a repressive campaign burden to do what was politically expedient, no matter how far removed from his true nature.
Perhaps he might have won after all, had he been true to himself sooner.