Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I wish...

I wish the John McCain we saw last night were the John McCain who ran for president.

I wish the Republican party would shatter itself into unidentifiable little bits that are impossible to reassemble.

I wish a new political party in the manner of the Rockefeller Republicans would rise out of the ashes. A party that values discussion and difference. A party of intelligent people who evaluate all sides before making decisions. A party of compassionate people who care for others while being financially responsible. A party of people who include others with divergent opinions and value equal rights for all people.

Perhaps that is only a dream. But that's what I believed Republicans were that day I stood next to the car containing Lyndon Johnson for whom I had no respect and listened to him campaign for John Kennedy. He congratulated me for being open-minded. I told him the majority of people there were young Republicans. There were no boos. In those days Republicans were respectful. How times have changed.

Sad.

BUT Barack Obama will be our next president. The world rejoices with us as hate will soon leave the White House.

3 comments:

Suzer said...

It's kind of sad that last night's concession speech was, in my opinion, the finest speech of John McCain's campaign. I agree with you wholeheartedly -- if the Republicans could do some soul searching, disengage themselves from the social agenda of extreme right religious folks and turn back to the true conservatives they once were, they could garner a lot more support. A party ruled by hatred against this or that group may be strong for a short time, but, as Jesus taught, love will always win. I was glad to have seen McCain's speech last night, as I can actually say I felt some respect for him that I haven't been able to muster throughout his campaign, which I felt faltered and took the low road far too often.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

It was a beautiful concession speech by McCain.

I grew up with one parent who leaned Republican and one who leaned Democratic, but there wasn't the ideological intolerance that there is now, so it never seemed to be much of an issue.

James said...

Suzer,

I don't believe it was the finest speech of Mr. McCain's campaign. I believe it was the 1) the best speech of his life, and 2) the best speech of his life. It was his swan song.

I think the McCain we saw last night in that speech, is the read John McCain. He should have dumped the Republican platform and run as John McCain, not as The Republican Representative.