# Was anyone else impressed by McCain tonight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258 "2008-11-05T12:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/21 "2008-11-05T14:33:41Z")
I feel a bit sorry for him now. He should have been the Republicans’ candidate in 2000. To answer the OP: I think deep down McCain is a decent man. I do think he’s embarassed by those folks who did the booing. Perhaps the pubbies can regroup and move away from that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/22 "2008-11-05T15:03:26Z")
I was very proud of McCain’s speech. It was perfect and he now needs to back up his words. But then while planning to vote for Obama since January, I have been defending McCain all year and picked him as the Republican most likely to be able to beat Hillary 3 years ago. I will say to be ungracious that I hope Palin disappears back into that wilderness known as Alaska. I hope we never see her again in a serious way on the national level. Jim ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/23 "2008-11-05T15:10:56Z")
I can’t reconcile his concession speech with the dirty campaign he ran, or allowed to be run. That’s what I’ll remember about him – that he appealed to the worst in us. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/24 "2008-11-05T15:12:06Z")
> [@Sky\_King](#): > > Forgive me, Pseudotriton, I somehow missed McCain saying “I ain’t losing, my friends, to no nigger” Mccain said that the same day Obama announced he was a socialist. ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/25 "2008-11-05T15:13:54Z")
To be honest, I do not think McCain is an honourable or a good man, deep down or on any level. His campaign was disgraceful, and one that should forever make him feel ashamed of his behaviour, the behaviour of his running mate, and the behaviour of his staff. I do believe, however, that his speech was gracious and respectful. In short, it was everything his campaign should have been. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/26 "2008-11-05T15:14:54Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Are you kidding me? You’re willing to overlook a vicious, inflammatory, destructive campaign from someone who vowed to run a decent and honorable campaign because “that’s how it’s done these days”? No, that’s not why. It’s to move on. To respond to hate with love and end the GWB-style partisanship. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/27 "2008-11-05T15:37:40Z")
I felt that McCain might be a decent man back in 2000. That was his time to be president and he got screwed, but then he used those same tactics used against him in 2000. 2008 wasn’t his time and now it will never be his time. I think he wanted it so bad he lost sight of decency. The man who gave that concession speech seemed more true to the man of 2000. But he did a lot of damage and his speech just glossed over that, you can’t call the man a terrorist and socialist and then say “he’s a good man” and expect everything to be hunky dorry, he’s still got some fences to mend. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/28 "2008-11-05T15:38:34Z")
Free from the burden of having to fight for the presidency, McCain was able to be the good, decent man that those of us who would have voted for him in 200 knew he was. He turned his back on many of his strengths in his ambition to appeal to the far right, and let his temper get the better of him for a prolonged period. He looked relieved, and I was impressed. I had to turn the channel when he started talking about Palin, though. I still can’t stand even to look at her on TV. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/29 "2008-11-05T15:45:19Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > No, that’s not why. It’s to move on. To respond to hate with love and end the GWB-style partisanship. I agree. It’s one thing to say “Whatever. The time to say decent, honorable things was during the campaign, but now your words and you no longer matter, so let’s move on,” and quite another to say, “Of course you had to say the vicious things you said–that’s just the nature of modern campaigning.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/30 "2008-11-05T15:57:19Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I had to turn the channel when he started talking about Palin, though. I still can’t stand even to look at her on TV. Even at the Democratic victory party I attended we applauded McCain’s conciliatory words, but he lost us when he turned his concession speech into a plug for Palin and implying that she was the future of the party. Right, the pit bull with lipstick with the constant message that the democrats are terrorist sympathizers or worse. Can you still feel McCain’s love? ---
**Author:** ![Sky\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Sky\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sky_King)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/31 "2008-11-05T16:06:34Z")
So, Pseudotriton, it’s OK for you to quote him as calling Senator Obama a nigger after the campaign is over? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/32 "2008-11-05T16:07:41Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Even at the Democratic victory party I attended we applauded McCain’s conciliatory words, but he lost us when he turned his concession speech into a plug for Palin and implying that she was the future of the party. Translation: “I really didn’t fuck up the Party for years and years to come.” ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/33 "2008-11-05T16:11:28Z")
> [@Sky\_King](#): > > So, Pseudotriton, it’s OK for you to quote him as calling Senator Obama a nigger after the campaign is over? [QUOTE=me] What would he have had to do to make you resent his campaign at this point? Saying “I ain’t losing, my friends, to no nigger”? [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/34 "2008-11-05T16:17:03Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Even at the Democratic victory party I attended we applauded McCain’s conciliatory words, but he lost us when he turned his concession speech into a plug for Palin and implying that she was the future of the party. > > Right, the pit bull with lipstick with the constant message that the democrats are terrorist sympathizers or worse. Can you still feel McCain’s love? It was no plug. This is all he said about the person we both dislike strongly. > [@](#): > > I am also – I am also, of course, very thankful to Gov. Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength, her husband Todd and their five beautiful children for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign. > We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country. He said nothing about 2012 and spent only a short time on her at all. less than 10% of his concession. Did you really expect him to say nothing about her at all. I think I dislike Palin as much as you do. I truly hope she disappears back to Alaska. But do you really believe it would have been proper for McCain to not praise her at all? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/35 "2008-11-05T16:29:08Z")
I was both impressed and heartened. Evidently he figured out how to get his soul back. I was especially happy when he chastised those of his supporters who booed at President-Elect Obama’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/36 "2008-11-05T16:37:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I thought McCain’s speech was pretty good. What really struck me was the difference in the crowds between him and Obama - McCain’s crowd was the (now typical) angry mob, Obama’s was respectful of McCain. To be fair, it’s very easy to be gracious in victory. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/37 "2008-11-05T16:47:33Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > It was no plug. This is all he said about the person we both dislike strongly. > > He said nothing about 2012 and spent only a short time on her at all. less than 10% of his concession. Did you really expect him to say nothing about her at all. It was expected to mention your VP and relatives, but not to parade them in the stage. > [@](#): > > I think I dislike Palin as much as you do. I truly hope she disappears back to Alaska. But do you really believe it would have been proper for McCain to not praise her at all? > > Jim Acting proud of the albatross that only had a message of division does diminish McCain. I either have to conclude that he will remain on denial of his mistake in picking her or that he sincerely thinks her campaign words were proper. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/38 "2008-11-05T16:50:15Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > … but he knows when it’s time to stop fighting. You mean **after** he’s lost? That is a good time to stop fighting, I agree. As to waving down the boos and the hostile to Obama crowd? I dunno, maybe if he and/or his campaign hadn’t played some of the cards they did during the campaign, his crowd wouldn’t have been quite so hostile. It appeared gracious, it sounded heartfelt and really, right up to this campaign I sorta liked the guy. I think he did a lot of reminiscing about 2000 lately when he left Bush swinging from the tree, but in the end what I saw last night night struck me as too little, too late. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/39 "2008-11-05T16:55:03Z")
I was moved by, and appreciated McCain’s speech. I was prepared to continue my strong dislike (based on this campaign season) and I found myself tearing up. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258/40 "2008-11-05T17:01:01Z")
I do think that Obama needs to swallow any resentment he might feel (and I might feel free to express here) and act conciliatory and generous to McCain, as little as he may deserve such generosity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-impressed-by-mccain-tonight/471258.md?page=3)