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For most Americans, the shock hasn't worn off this morning. Senator Barack Obama has defeated Senator John McCain and will be the next President of the United States of America.
For Senator Obama's supporters, this will be easy to embrace. For Senator McCain's, maybe not so much.
I wouldn't expect any of them to "get over it" any time soon. What I would hope to see them do, starting today, is to start working through it. This election was long, and it was bitter, and it was tough. But the United States cannot reclaim its past glories as a divided country. If you supported and/or voted for John McCain, Barack Obama will be your next President. Will you work with him, or work against him?
If you were a John McCain supporter, I encourage you to take the words of his classy, eloquent, and extremely heartfelt concession speech to heart. I've excerpted some of it below (italics mine). Please read it carefully. We need you. We all need each other.
"Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.
"My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.
"A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him.
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. Sen. 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 for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
"Sen. 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.
"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 . . .
"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.
Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.
"Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much."
Speech is Free...but not free from consequences.
10 years ago
6 comments:
This is total hypocrisy. For eight years Republicans have had to put up with the constant barrage of insults and comments like "he's not MY president!" from Democrats and the left. Now, all the sudden you want McCain supporters to work with Obama and get over the fact that he won? Should we follow the example of the Democrats over the past eight years and act immature? You didn't accept Bush as your "next president" when he won in 2000 or 2004. Why should I accept Obama? Because you want me to? I'll do it because I'm a mature adult who doesn't kick and scream when I don't get what (or who) I want. I'll do it because I was going to do it anyway, without you making a case for it. I'll do it because it's the right thing to do, because unlike you, I care about this country. But I sure as hell am not going to do it because you asked me to. Get over yourself! If you reply, please don't start making another case for your argument or bashing Bush – this isn't about who's President, it's about Democrats and their lousy negative attitude. Baby got his bottle, so go be happy – and remember your own words the next time a Republican is elected.
Adam, you might want to go back and read the beginning of my post again. I actually said straight out that I didn't expect McCain supporters to get over it. Nor did I ask you to support Obama because I want you to. It seems my post has touched a nerve with you that it was not intended to. I apologize for that. However, it's pretty rude for you to conclude from what I wrote that I don't care about this country. If anything has caused the divide between Republicans and Democrats, it's the Republican tendency to call Democrats anti-American or traitors.
And if you read what I wrote, you would see that I said that I have totally accepted Obama as my President. From Tuesday night on. You know why? I'm a mature adult. I asked you, and you still haven't answered so I'll ask again - how do you expect me or others to work together with you or the likes of you when you've been bashing someone I/we support for 8 years? Regardless of how you feel about my party, don't you think you're being a bit of a hypocrite when you have been immature for eight years, and you expect others to not do the same? And I'm not talking about the oblivious stuff you may hate Bush about - I'm talking the sheer pleasure you take in making fun of someone and hitting below the belt for eight years. And the whole "he's not my President" attitude. THAT's what I'm saying when I say you don't care. I'm not saying you're not patriotic, but what I'm saying is - that type of childish attitude destroys the country – if nothing else, it breaks down any willingness that we the people have to work together. If I'm a Bush supporter and I have to listen to your BS for eight years, don't you think I would be completely unwilling to work with you? Now you're asking people to work with you. It's total hypocrisy. Picture this - after eight years of Obama - and yes, it'll be eight years, I doubt there's anything he can do to turn off the voters who got him in this time - he's treated like a god. Anyway - picture this - let's say everyday for the next eight years, I make snide little below the belt comments about Obama and in 2012 a Republican is elected President. I ask you, Jeffrey - let's stand together as one and work together! Are you going to take me seriously? I don't know you, but my feeling is no - I'm not taking your request all that seriously. Again, I'm doing the right thing on my own, without your influence. It's just irritating that you would even entertain the idea of asking others to come together after your behavior. Even today, you post things about someone who didn't even win the election - snide comments. It goes against everything you're asking in this post. I'm asking you to rise above that, and moving forward, try to give respect when you ask for it. I'll leave you alone, but I'll be keeping my eye on your posts - keeping you in check. ;) Bye...for now...
One more thing , so we’re clear, this isn’t about who the President is or was – it’s about your attitude.
Well, Adam, perhaps I misread your comment, but you have read an awful lot into mine, and my posts. Since we've never met, it's interesting how much you know about how I've been speaking and acting regarding President Bush for the last 8 years---my "behavior", which you have never personally observed. Just to dispel some illusions you seem to have about me, I did not vote for Al Gore in 2000, or Bush. I am disinclined to vote Republican, but Gore turned me off quite a bit in the debates. I considered warnings about Bush as a potentially dangerous president to be overblown and histrionic. I voted for the party I consider to be closest to my political views---Libertarian. Through the beginning of his Presidency up until the launch of the Iraq war, I had few problems with Bush. However, from the Iraq war on, that changed. If you are one of those who somehow still considers Bush to be a good president, then there is no reasoning with you (I reserve the right to try, anyway). For this election, tossing a vote away on a third party would have been hard to rationalize, even if I didn't believe Barack Obama was the best man for the job. And since in your responses you seem to be using the "royal you" everytime you say "you" (meaning, all liberals and/or Democrats, though I'm not really a Democrat), I guess I'll do the same. You have certainly been hitting Obama below the belt during this campaign, with all the Hussein crap, Muslim falsehoods, overblown Ayers crap, and Reverend Wright distractions. Meanwhile Obama's campaign never once to my knowledge waged a negative attack on anything but McCain's policies, voting record, and political relationships. So, who has to make the bigger adjustment when it comes to respecting the new President? John McCain did such a good job trying to smear Obama this year that if you squinted a little, you might think he was Tucker Eskew. No wonder his own supporters booed him when he tried to say Obama was a good man, even at his very genuine-sounding concession speech. And as a final note, whatever I may have actually said about Bush over the last five years or so, I never took "pleasure" from it, because the things I criticized were life-and-death, world-altering decisions and mis-decisions he was making. There was nothing "pleasurable" in watching him mishandle Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, our energy crisis, global warming, and our financial problems. The only "pleasure" I'm going to have during his Presidency is his final day in office.
So can we agree that in order for this country to go forward, at least amongst the citizen (I can't speak for the immature children running the country) - we need to put all the pettiness behind us? All it seems to do is piss the other side off and make them unwilling to work with one another. And for the record - you must not live in a battleground state, the Obama/moveon.org, etc. ads were just as bad and plentiful.
Yes, of course I agree the pettiness needs to be left behind, which is why I take Boehner to task for issuing a petty public statement about Obama's first staff pick. And no, I don't live in a battleground, but a solid blue state. But if I'm not mistaken, didn't Obama decline moveon.org's endorsement of his candidacy?
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