Complete Text of Sen. John McCain's concession speech: The End Of A Long Journey
Complete Text of Arizona Senator John McCain's concession speech, Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 4, 2008
(UPDATE: In a conversation late Tuesday night McCain's top aide, Mark Salter,
who's collaborated on McCain's books, told The Times' Maeve Reston that
the Arizona senator instructed him to craft a concession speech that
captured the historic sweep of his Democratic opponent's victory,
McCain's promise to work with him and another sympathetic mention of
the passing of Obama's grandmother.
(Salter began the writing at 6 p.m. By 8, he had a draft of the
10-minute remarks completed for the senator's review. And the world
heard those words soon after.)
MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.
[APPLAUSE]
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. [BOOING]
Please. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of
the country that we both love. [Complete text of President-elect Obama's speech is available here.]
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 America offers opportunities to all who
have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. 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 dine....
... at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful 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...[APPLAUSE]
Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their
citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. [APPLAUSE]
Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his
country. I applaud him for it, and offer him 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.
Sen. 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...[APPLAUSE]
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. [APPLAUSE]
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment.
But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our
country moving again.
We fought -- we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours.
[AUDIENCE: No!]
I am so...
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.
[AUDIENCE MEMBER, OFF-MIKE: We do, too]
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'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother... [APPLAUSE]
... 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 -- I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah
Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen...[APPLAUSE]
... 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... [APPLAUSE]
... her husband Todd and their five beautiful children... [APPLAUSE]
... for 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 Alaska, the Republican Party and our country. [APPLAUSE]
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 -- 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
Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of
leading us for the next four years.
[BOOING] Please. Please.
I would not -- 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 Arizona for it.
[APPLAUSE]
[AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA.]
Tonight -- 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 Se. Obama -- whether they supported me or Sen. 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. [APPLAUSE]
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.
posted on 2008-11-05 18:51
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