“A man such as this” = a man like Barack Obama.

This was the John McCain who should have run. The Letterman interview was very telling, when Dave asked if John agreed with Pailin accusation that Obama “palled around with terrorists”, and how John Ayers qualified as “terroristS”? McCain hesitated. I believe he wanted to respond differently, then he realized that he had to toe the official party line and agree with Palin.

Point is, I believe McCain is an honourable man, who decided he had to play the game more like Bush and Rove to win. Against a weaker opponent like Kerry, he may well have won. For Obama’s faults, he has been organized, calm, calculated, and discussed issues while McCain discussed Obama.

As the GOP goes back to lick its wounds and assess what went wrong, I hope it can right itself and cast off the fanatical elements of the party that might have helped in 2000 and 2004, but were seen though this time. Specifically, the people who seek to demonize Democrats rather than debate them on the issues.

While they’re at it, the GOP has to break ties with the religious right like Falwell, whom McCain rightly pointed to as an “agent of intolerance”, before embracing Falwell when McCain decided he needed Falwell’s support. Has everybody forgot that “There shall be no religious test…”? There is no correlation between morality and faith. Never was.

I look forward to see who Obama chooses for his cabinet. It will be an interesting transition.

what does that mean?

But this morning I watched The View, to see how the 5 liberals would treat the 1 conservative, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Elisabeth is such a class act! She explained that Obama is her president and she will stand behind him for the good of the country, and that this is an excellent example for our children that anyone in this country can accomplish anything. Her words meant a lot to me.

Tracy, you express views which makes our country great indeed. Isn’t it wonderful that a peaceful exchange of power can occur based on the will of the people, something that we take for granted, but is denied to many people in the world living under totalitarian regimes like China, Korea, Iran, to name a few.

Mr. McCain is a good and honorable man, and I was heartened by his concession speech nearly as much as I was impressed by President Elect Obama’s victory speech. A milestone in the history of our country has been reached; but the struggle for a more perfect union continues. I am proud of Mr. McCain: an American hero coming out of a very unpopular war. He bares the scars and visible pain of his struggle made for all of us. I’ve always expressed my heartfelt view that he is a good and honorable man.

We may differ in political ideology, but lets seek out what is good and honorable where it can be found.