Exit Stage Left

Great image.

You could learn a lot from McCain's magnanimity.

I actually found McCain's speech to be a striking reminder of why people supported the man to begin with. History will find deep irony in John McCain's candidacy. He, speaking in defeat—more than anything he said or did in the campaign trail, or the choices his campaign made—reminded us of his character and of someone who believed in governing from the center. This snapshot taken of my TV screen for me embodied some of the poignancy I felt in that moment.

Based on his campaign behavior I have a hard time believing someone with an Arabic name could be a McCain supporter, but whatever. I see nothing gloating or non-mangnamous about this picture. I agree with Raul. The speech last night was surely the best of the campaign. I liked McCain when he ran against Bush, but his voting record over the last few years as well as his selection of Sarah Palin were hard turns to the right. I wonder what would have happened yesterday had he chosen a running mate with a record more like his own and had run a positive campaign of inclusion rather than one of fear and division. Even though it's a shot of a TV screen it's still a striking image. I'll bet it looks amazing larger.

I'm thinking that this is one of the very few times he has gone left. That was a good speech though. I was at Grant Park and couldn't hear it that well but found it later and paid better attention. Perhaps if he acted like that through the whole campaign ......

A perfect picture for the moment. I too snapped a few photos of my tv screen but I got the obvious pictures. This one is much more memorable.

You might find interesting this new yorker piece on McCain in defeat: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/17/081117fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all