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s L i b e r a l e T a g e b u c h
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Originaldokumente aus „Das Liberale
Tagebuch“, http://www.dr-trier.de |
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Remarks
by John McCain LT-Redaktion: Mit dieser
Rede anerkannte John McCain, dass Barack Obama die Wahl am 04.11.08 gewonnen
hat. Die Rede ist ein Dokument von Größe, Ritterlichkeit und exemplarischer
demokratischer Geisteshaltung.. Die schönste Passage: „I
wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my
president.” Thank you.
Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful My friends,
we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people
have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the
honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected
the next president of the country that we both love. In a contest
as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands
my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by
inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly
believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of
an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for
achieving. This is an
historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for
African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. I've always
believed that A century
ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to
dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. Senator Obama
has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for
it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not
live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the
presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise. Senator Obama
and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt
many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country,
and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through
the many challenges we face. I urge all
Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but
offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to
come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences,
and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world,
and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we
inherited. Whatever our
differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no
association has ever meant more to me than that. It is natural
tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and
work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could. And though we
fell short, the failure is mine, not yours. I am so
deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all
you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The
road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship
never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you. I am
especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my
family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through
the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate
man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me. You know,
campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and
that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love
and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead. I am also, of
course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I
have 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 with 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 To all my
campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to
every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in
what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times,
thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the
privilege of your faith and friendship. 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 Senator Obama and my old friend
Senator 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 and I thank
the people of 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 Senator 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 |