I think McCain legitimately deserves some credit for going into the NAACP, not the most friendly of venues ever for the GOP, particularly not a hotbed of support this year given the circumstances, and giving a pretty gracious and magnanimous speech:
I appreciate your kind invitation and this warm welcome to the NAACP. And by the way, this is your second invitation to me during my presidential campaign, and I hope you’ll excuse me for passing on the opportunity at your convention last year and not being here.
As you might recall, I was a bit distracted at the time dealing with what reporters uncharitably described as an implosion in my campaign. But I’m very glad that you invited me again.
Let me begin, if I may, with a few words about my opponent. Don’t tell him I said this, but he’s an impressive fellow in many ways.
He’s inspired a great many Americans, some of whom have wrongly believed that a political campaign could hold no purpose or meaning for them. This success should make Americans, all Americans, proud. Of course, I would prefer his success not to continue quite as long as he hopes, but it does make you and me proud to know the country I’ve loved and served all my life, still a work in progress and always improving.
It was actually a pretty decent speech.
*** Update ***
Rhetoric v. reality.
Conservatively Liberal
I heard that clip on MSNBC yesterday, and I thought it was a smart move on his part. It costs nothing to praise your opponent (and in this case, rightfully so), and I wish there was more of it from both sides. McCain had to tiptoe there, and I thought he did a good job of it.
The audience sounded polite and respectful too, so they both hit the right notes yesterday.
jake
Given GOP SOP there will be frequent reference to this speech when yet another pro-McCain 527 launches another slime coated attack at Obama. “Dude, no way he’s a racist, he spoke to the NAACP!”
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
RSA
Think Progress contrasts McCain’s speech with what he’s actually done in Congress, in the area of education issues. I can appreciate McCain’s having given a good speech, but in the end it comes down to substance, and a lot of what McCain is proposing is just the usual Republican shtick: school vouchers, a reduced role for teachers’ unions, lower taxes, tax credits for health care spending, off-shore drilling for oil, etc. Some good, but mostly bad.
John Cole
It looks like McCain and the NAACP have a perfect relationship. He tells them what they want to hear, but won’t do anything for them. They clap wen he comes to speak, but none of them will vote for him.
Seems fair.
4tehlulz
ARE YOU QUESTIONING JOHN MCCAI…n’s….
Damn.
RSA
Excellent summary.
c
And then there’s this:
McCain regrets vote against King holiday – International Herald
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/04/america/04mccain-king.php
whocoodanode
Mr. Cole misses being a Republican very, very much. They are just so … authoritative.
DAMN YOU LEFTY BLOGOSPHERE INCOMPETENT WHINERS WHY DON’T YOU GET ON MY MESSAGE AND STAY THERE!?! … oh, oh my, what a gracious speech by the good Senator McCain…
blech