Where were you when the new American nation was born? It was one of those moments never to be forgotten, of course. Everyone knows that, but I suspect the average Democratic citizen actually missed it altogether.
While the votes were being counted, I was monitoring the world press on my computer, checking friends reactions by telephone and email, and channel surfing from ABC to NBC to CBS to CNN. The process of the American election had absolutely captured the world’s attention. And, in case you didn’t notice, I was kind of “into it” myself.
Today newspaper in Singapore ran a story about the U.S. election bearing the headline, “Deciding the World’s Fate.” That was a sentiment echoed in many papers that heralded the imminent announcement of Barack Obama’s election as “creating a safer America and a safer world.” Adam Nagourney, writing for the International Herald Tribune, said, “The election of Obama amounted to a national catharsis—a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.”
The Sofia, Bulgaria, Echo described the scene of Obama giving his historic victory speech by saying he was “unquestionably mindful of the high expectations attendant on his victory.” Meantime, Canadian TV’s online headline, immediately after the announcement was, “Change Has Come to America.”
Just like the average Democratic American, all these outlets of world media “got it” in some dull way, like being able to notice that two plus two is four without noticing the basis for that conclusion, not even getting that addition is taking place.
In fact, the moment that a New America was born came after the announcement of Obama’s election, but before he took the stage to accept the outcome. It was in John McCain’s speech. Obama has made some speeches for the ages that will be taught in schools for generations, but McCain’s concession speech was stirring and inspiring in a way that left me wishing to have him sketched into the old drawings of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
(Hey, I had a hundred jokes I thought were clever about this election, but it would be a tragedy if you missed the greatest moment of the entire campaign, so I’m going from serious to silent, and I’ll let Sen. McCain speak for me, and all of us.)
“I won’t spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been,” he said, having earlier referred to Obama’s achievement as “a great thing for himself and for his country,” and having pledged that he would “do all in my power to help him.”
He ended his speech this way: “This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.
“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… 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. 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.”
OMG! The senator, while conceding defeat, spoke just over 1,200 words, about half of them necessary rote acknowledgments. In the remaining few hundred words, it was he who reset the clock for the United States. He gave every American a reason to believe in the promise of democracy, and finally introduced to American politics the grace and generosity that used to amaze the world.
You can read the entire text of the McCain speech in the Belfast Telegraph. The URL is long, but once you type it in and get the speech, you can back out most of the address, and add Belfast Telegraph to “My Favorites,” giving you access to news from beyond the shores of America. I believe this is absolutely essential, if you want to be an informed and functional American. Go to www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-election/transcript-john-mccains-concession-speech-14038426.html.
If you want to read Obama’s victory speech, which you probably didn’t miss on election night anyway, pick it up at National Public Radio, another site you should have in “My Favorites” for cross checking broadcast TV news stories. Go to www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96624326&ft=1&f=1001.
Hint: Once this column is posted at www.mauiweekly.com, you’ll be able to grab the URLs there very easily.
If you can read all the way through McCain’s speech without feeling your heart pounding in your chest, and without being inspired to a patriotism you haven’t known for years, have your doctor check you out. You are either heartless, dead or not American.
Hell, am I kidding myself? I’m writing to a county filled with people who don’t even vote!