He was known as 'Maverick.'
If that's the case, we could use a lot more of it.
To me, perhaps the defining moment of Sen. John McCain's life did not occur during those years he spent as a prisoner in the 'Hanoi Hilton' after his fighter jet was shot down over Vietnam.
Although I'm sure the sentiment likely was rooted in that ordeal.
To me, the quintessential moment, the one that told you everything you need to know about the longtime Arizona senator who lost his battle against brain cancer over the weekend, occurred on the campaign trail in 2008.
McCain, who had lost a previous fight for the Republican presidential nomination to George W. Bush, was now the nominee, and facing an upstart new face, a young senator from Illinois named Barack Hussein Obama.
McCain was doing a town hall rally in the little town of Lakeville, Minn.
A woman approached the microphone and indicated she couldn't trust Obama because "he's an Arab."
McCain never hesitated.
He cut the woman off and offered this exceptional response.
"No, Ma'am.He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what the campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].”
The crowd booed. The candidate was not deterred.
You can watch the video here.
That was a decade ago.
How far we've sunk since then.
McCain lost the election to Obama.
But he won me forever.
There was something noble about McCain, perhaps that also was forged in those dark days as a prisoner of war.
He routinely opposed those in his own party.
He voted his conscience, not some dogma or ideology. And her certainly was never prison to the party's talking points.
Compare that with what we routinely see in politics today.
By the way, during that 2008 campaign, McCain made a stop in Delaware County.
Our Top 10 blogger Mary Ann Fiebert today recaptures the images connected to that visit.
Rest well, Maverick.
You are missed more than you can imagine.
And I can only image that will grow even deeper in the days ahead.
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