Sen. 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 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.
What a gracious and honorable speech – made me wish all the more he had won. I wish we had more honor and grace like this in the public (and the blog) square.
Agreed Montanan,
Especially the closing:
[i] I would not — I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it. Tonight — tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Sen. Obama — whether they supported me or Sen. Obama. I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.[/i]
NEVER ever forget the tactics used by obama and his thugs to win this election.
NEVER ever forget that these are the same used in TEC and other arenas.
Wake up Church.
Lord Jesus Christ, make hast to help us.
Help us love you first, most, with all we have and are. Amen
Let’s be evenhanded here. You could say the same about Nixon’s Southern Strategy in 1968 or some of the tactics employed by the Bush campaign in 1988. That’s not to say that the Democrats in question ought to have won, merely that the tactics used against them played on fears, not all of them entirely rational. Think of TR’s “lily white” Progressive Party in 1912 (not Teddy’s finest hour).
We had a messy campaign in which neither party behaved perfectly but in which the electorate sent a clear message about what they were rejecting. Now both sides need to focus on moving forward.
I had hoped against hope that language similiar to that in this speech would have been used in his nomination speech. It wasn’t. I then hoped it would make its way into the debates. It didn’t. Then I realized it better make it into the concession speech in order prepare the way for what will happen in January. When it came time to stand up and say what needed to be said, John McCain delivered. Would it have helped if done earlier? We’ll never know.
[i]Re: comments #3 and #4, this thread is not about Obama’s (or anyone else’s) election tactics. It’s about John McCain’s speech. Please stick to that. Thanks.[/i] — elfgirl
Point duly taken, Elfgirl.
I am glad that Mr. McCain delivered such a good and gracious concession speech. If the positions had been reversed, I believe that Mr. Obama would not have been so gracious and delivered a scalding rebuke.
I did not vote for John McCain but I have to say that this was one of the best speeches I have ever seen. If this John McCain has been running for president, things might have turned out to be much more close at the end.
three speeches stand out with McCain:
Convention speech
Alfred E. Smith dinner speech
concession speech
and a possible fourth:
SNL “QVC” skit
At no time in between did he deliver anything like those on the campaign trail. If he had, as Luminos said, this race may have had a different outcome.
Jim Elliott
Florida
This is truly a great man.
I really liked the part where he pledged to continue fighting for lower taxes, smaller government, and a sane immigration and foreign policy.
I really liked the part where he pledged to continue fighting for lower taxes, smaller government, and a sane immigration and foreign policy.
Yeah. That was the kind of thing that made me so enthisiastically support him.
OK. Enough sarcasm. It’s like wiskey on a cold day. It only makes you feel warm.
On a serious note, though I admire his grace in losing it does seem that McCain was only really committed to losing gracefully. When people talk about McCain’s campaign being viscious and based on fear I really don’t see what they are talking about. Are they not aware that McCain made a specific point of repudiating any use of Rev. Wright in his campaign? Mccain simply had no fighting instinct. After hearing his Convention speech I understand why. He came out of Vietnam humbled and less the warrior that he was when he entered Hanoi. Noble, but tragic when playing a game that “ain’t beanbag”. Obama, for all his massive biographical and ideological flaws, wiped the floor with McCain.
On another note: it would be interesting to see past concession speeches by Kerry, Gore, Dole, Bush sr., Dukakis, Mondale, Carter and Ford.