It seems ironic that in the same week that we are exposed to more evidence of just how dishonorable our leadership can be, we lose one of our leaders, who over many years and on many subjects, has been one of our best examples of honorable leadership. I never voted for John McCain because I disagreed with some of the policies that he supported, but I was always impressed with his willingness to search for solutions with the people who were leaders on my side of the political aisle. He modeled how one could have an opposing point of view on a subject and yet treat a person with a different point of view with respect and even enjoy their company.
I was impressed with his willingness to express his own opinion over “the party line” when he knew the party line and the party leadership were wrong, as he did when he voted to preserve the ACA. He was always authentic which means that he made the sort of errors that we all make. He had a temper, and occasionally it got the best of him. He was called a maverick, and his sense of humor allowed him to relish the description as a positive label. He was willing to admit his failures, and contrary to what we have come to expect from most politicians who will never admit an error, he frequently went out of the way to apologize to those whom he felt he had failed or offended. In his concession speech after he had been defeated by Barack Obama for the presidency, he was genuinely magnanimous and recognized in his speech what a significant milestone the election of the first African American president was for this country:
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 America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to visit — to dine at the White House — was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country.
I have two competing “favorite John McCain moments.” I have looked at the YouTube clips of these moments many times. Obviously, one of my favorite moments was his famous “thumb down” rejection of the Republican attempt to replace the ACA with a terrible piece of legislation that would have denied access to care for millions of Americans. As much as I think that the thumbs down moment was a demonstration of legislative courage worthy of a chapter in some future book like JFK’s Profiles in Courage, my favorite John McCain moment was his teaching moment with the woman at a 2008 presidential campaign “town hall” meeting who attacked Barack Obama as an “Arab.” A screenshot from that famous encounter is the lead picture for this post.
John McCain lived for over a year with the knowledge that he would die of a glioblastoma. When he was first diagnosed the Washington Post put out an article written by Kayla Epstein entitled “Five of John McCain’s most courageous political moments.” The concession speech following the 2008 loss to Obama and his reprimand to his supporter who called Obama an “Arab” are on the list. Strangely his healthcare vote is not, but what I enjoyed most from the video links within the article was listening to his defense of Huma Abedin, the assistant to Hillary Clinton who was then our secretary of state. Ms. Abedin was being attacked by Michele Bachmann with allegations of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The final episode of Epstein’s “big five McCain moments” was his defense of the Khan family following attacks from then candidate for president, Donald Trump. John McCain never demonstrated the pandering to the president that has been so typical of many of his Republican colleagues in Congress.
In these speeches he gives us concrete examples of what is honorable, what is fair, and what it means to be an American. He recognized and honored the contributions of immigrants and castigated those who unfairly and meanly diminished their contributions. John McCain worked hard for fairer immigration policies, campaign finance reform, and realized that every American needs access to quality healthcare. He thought the ACA was flawed, but since he could see that the Republican replacements were worse, he voted against the sham bills offered by his party. His explanation why he voted as he did should have been an opening that senators on both sides of the aisle could have used as a start to creating something better than the flawed initial benefits of ACA 1.0. There is no doubt in my mind that had even a few senators from both parties taken advantage of the wisdom of John McCain and had been willing to follow his example, we would have something that would move us much closer to the Triple Aim. Improving healthcare is a PDCA process. The ACA is the first cycle. McCain’s statement suggests to me that he saw that progress needed to begin with a spirit of bipartisan participation in a process of continuous improvement. Please read his words:
From the beginning, I have believed that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with a solution that increases competition, lowers costs, and improves care for the American people. The so-called ‘skinny repeal’ amendment the Senate voted on today would not accomplish those goals. While the amendment would have repealed some of Obamacare’s most burdensome regulations, it offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The Speaker’s statement that the House would be ‘willing’ to go to conference does not ease my concern that this shell of a bill could be taken up and passed at any time.
I’ve stated time and time again that one of the major failures of Obamacare was that it was rammed through Congress by Democrats on a strict-party line basis without a single Republican vote. We should not make the mistakes of the past that has led to Obamacare’s collapse, including in my home state of Arizona where premiums are skyrocketing and health care providers are fleeing the marketplace. We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people. We must do the hard work our citizens expect of us and deserve.
It is not too early to ask if anyone will be inspired to try to fill John McCain’s role as the voice of reason in the Senate. Will there be anyone who has the strength of personality and character shaped by a lifetime of trying to do the right thing who will have the courage to try to pick up John McCain’s flag and carry it forward? He was very straightforward in his description of what must be done: “We must do the hard work our citizens expect of us and deserve.”
