Politics done right

McCain a great man who never fought dirty

Everything that can be said about Senator John McCain has already been said. The longtime politician and American war hero succumbed to brain cancer on Saturday. He was 81.

It’s worth offering an opinion on this international story because it’s timely with the upcoming municipal elections and next year’s federal election. McCain was indeed a kind man, a great American, and someone who did politics the way politics should be done. He never fought dirty. A video has resurfaced from the 2008 campaign (which he lost to Barack Obama) where two speakers at a rally describe his opponent as “someone who cohorts with domestic terrorists.”

“He is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of having as president of the United States,” he told the first man.

There was a follow-up question to which McCain replied, “He’s (Obama) a decent, family man and a citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”

Compare this with the current presidency.

Trump’s attacks on McCain during the 2016 election were repugnant. (“He’s a war hero because he was captured.”) This was coming from someone who didn’t serve in Vietnam because of heel spurs.

At McCain’s request, two of the eulogies will be given by former opponents — George W. Bush, who he lost to in the 2000 Republican primaries and Obama, who he lost to in the 2008 election.

Municipal elections are now less than two months away. There’s a chance things could get heated as the dance floor in Penticton fills up.

And with the federal election about a year away, it’s soon time for the long string of attack ads.

If we, as Canadians, can learn anything from John McCain, it’s how politics should be done.