John McCain made a gracious showing at his concession speech.  His words and gesticulation displayed his true colors; a genuine American hero, through and through.  He displayed the honor and nobility of a defeated soldier, laying down his saber after a long and heartfelt battle.  Unfortunately, this solemn gesture of respect was lost to a chorus of booing and miscellaneous profanities.  The whole production embodied, why I couldn’t support him, this time around.  It wasn’t because of the man, as I’d long been a fan of the only Republican you could trust to give you a straight answer.  I was even rooting for his nomination in the 2000 primaries.  It wasn’t because I was in love with Obama, as I felt his promises to be a little too sugary sweet.  You could normally say, “You can judge a person by the company they keep.”, but John McCain is not the same kind of person, as the man in the audience that yelled “Kill’em” when Obama’s name was mentioned at a campaign rally.  In this case, it can be said, “You can judge a policy by the people it’s selling.”  His message wanted us petty, fearful and full of hatred for our fellow man.  His message brought out the ugliest parts of our natures, while his opponent’s brought out the best. 

John McCain is, in my mind, a tragic hero.  He was the man we needed in 2000, but didn’t get.  In 2008, he’s the man we got and didn’t need.   He’s a man that deserves his own party, not one that has to use fear mongering and divisive (hearsay based) whisper campaigns to get elected.  Many will say his weaknesses in economics or choosing Sarah Palin was his downfall.  That wasn’t the reason I started rooting for the other guy.  It was the reversal of character, aligning him with the far-right and resorting to the same mudslinging techniques that brought him down in 2000 that changed my mind.  He stopped being the John McCain all of us centrists loved, the John McCain that stated, publically, the Bush campaign should cease tarnishing John Kerry’s war record.  Right before our eyes, he morphed into every other red-state pandering republican and in some cases worse (I haven’t heard cries of “Socialist” in my adult life).  I know why he did it, to win, but how would you feel if your favorite baseball pitcher changed teams and when asked why would he change uniforms, when he was so beloved by his previous city, his answer was, “To win.”  The situation he fell into, with this election, warranted extreme measures, but unfortunately all measures taken led him away from his historical appeal.

Everything else aside, it was good to see the old McCain, again.  His sincerity was apparent to all that watched the speech.  His lifetime of service to his country remains a model to emulate and his demeanor, even in defeat, is worthy of our utmost respect.