how to lose

America was at its best on election night. Not just because of Obama's stirring victory, and not just because of the wonderful speech he gave, but because John McCain's concession speech was so eloquent and gracious; a worthy companion piece. In fact Peggy Noonan hears that it was the loser's speech that made the biggest impact in certain parts of the world:

The colleague had been touring the young democracies of Eastern Europe during the American election, and he found it wasn't so much Barack Obama that immediately knocked out observers but Mr. McCain's concession speech. This is the first American transfer of power they'd seen in eight years, and they couldn't get over the peacefulness and grace with which Mr. McCain accepted the people's verdict. "It really impressed them," the colleague told Mr. McCain, and later me. It gave them a template, a guide to how the older democracies do it.

Comments

[Lyle]

I agree wholeheartedly on McCain's concession speech. He hit it out of the park, and in doing so, got back his own voice after the shrillness to which the "Country First" campaign sunk. I only wish that his politico colleagues in Thailand had taken notice. Can you imagine if the Republicans had reacted to Obama's win by occupying JFK Airport for eight days?! But then, they would never get so far as occupying it in the first place, because security actually works there. Here, however, the regional economy was temporarily crippled and Thailand will feel the pain for at least a year to come. McCain demonstrated good sportsmanship that many other political leaders should emulate but don't.