Obama, Durbin, Duckworth, Emanuel honor Arizona senator

Former President Barack Obama joined a host of political heavyweights from the Chicago area who expressed condolences Saturday night in the wake of Sen. John McCain’s death at age 81.

“John McCain and I were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics,” said Obama, who beat McCain for the presidency in 2008. “But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher — the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed.

“Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own,” Obama said. “At John’s best, he showed us what that means.”

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth called McCain “one of our nation’s greatest leaders and statesmen, [and] one of my personal heroes.

“His refusal to give up in the face of adversity inspired me when I was a missionless helicopter pilot with no legs recovering at Walter Reed. In fact, I met him there for the first time when he visited us Wounded Warriors. He joked that he and I both flew into a missile and that didn’t take much skill. It’s what you do afterwards that matters,” Duckworth said.

Sen. Dick Durbin sent a concise tweet, saying, “My friend and America’s hero, John McCain, landed safely tonight at Heaven’s gates.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel lauded the “veteran, father, husband, maverick and devoted public servant,” saying he “is gone but will live on through the countless number of lives he and his good work touched.”

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said McCain’s death “robs us of an important voice when our nation most needs it.

Rep. Bobby Rush said McCain will “forever be remembered as a true patriot who never surrendered his sense of decency for political expediency.

“Sen. McCain was the definition of a maverick who always put country first. His leadership, bravery, independence, and patriotism are his legacy and something we can all aspire to.”