Dignity in Defeat

I have watched John McCain's speech after conceding with Barack Obama as the 44th US President. I am moved and almost in tears and I am not even an American. I am actually speechless watching him encourage the people who supported him to be as one and support their new president. This is nothing new perhaps but it's his delivery, his sincerity which was so moving.


It's amazing how swift the election process is. Real time. Maybe what's really on my mind is when will the politicians in my country achieve that kind of maturity? Dignity in defeat. Political maturity. Humility. Integrity.

The full transcript of John McCain's speech can be read over at CNN Politics. The whole speech is very inspiring. The parts I love the most:

"It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."

"I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been."

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 -- 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."

Well, God bless the world!