Editorial: John Sydney McCain III

lettertotheeditor

To the Editor:

This week, America lost a true leader and a legendary patriot. We have lost men like this before, but at this point in time, this loss hits us a little bit harder, and a little bit deeper.

John Sydney McCain, the  US Senator from Arizona who, in 1986,  replaced the equally legendary Barry Goldwater, left us after a very courageous, and public, bout with brain cancer. His long public career, part military, part government,  was a profile in courage and tenacity.

The first time I met this great American was  in 2000. I had decided to support him in his exciting primary challenge to the Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. I liked Gov. Bush, but really loved the Maverick image and persona of the man from Sedona. He was a Conservative. He was a Navy veteran. He was a POW, one that refused release if it meant his fellow POWs would be left behind.  He was a proud Republican, though always mindful to put country before party. He was, more to the point, an American original.

Senator McCain eventually lost the primary in 2000 as well as the general election in 2008. He could have retired after each setback, his place in history firmly secured. Instead, he chose to remain in the United States Senate.  I believe he remained because it was never the office that was important to him, it was the service. So often people run for office and head straight for the highest office they can achieve and if they don’t win, we never hear from them again. That was not Senator McCain. He chose to continue to be the “man in the arena,” the “doer” and not “talker” that Teddy Roosevelt so aptly described a century earlier. While in the arena, no one, Republican or Democrat, could be assured a free pass with the Maverick from Arizona. That philosophy and reputation led to his 2008 Presidential slogan, “Country First.”

In an era where toxicity is commonplace in the public arena, we would all do well to observe and honor the example of Sen. John McCain. Debate, battle, and fight it out in the arena of ideas. That is healthy, but when the conversation, and election, has ended, we need do what Americans have always done… join together and move forward. Public servants like Truman, Reagan, O’Neill, and yes, McCain, have shown us that not only can it be done, it must be done, if this great nation of ours is to remain what our sixteenth President said  is the “last best hope of Earth.”

Thank you, Sen. John McCain. May history treat you kindly, and may those of us who have benefitted from your selflessness work to emulate in some way, any way, that same quality.

Fred Camillo
State Representative

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