Ah, how quickly you forget the Republican attacks on Obama:
—He was inexperienced.
—Support for him was a mile wide and an inch deep. A cult-of-personality phenomenon.
—He said agreeable things but was “all things to all people.” Hard to pin down what he “truly” stood for. Again, due to the lack of an extensive record in the U.S. Senate.
—He was “against the Iraq War,” but again, before he entered the U.S. government. So he never actually took a vote on initiating the war.
—The Republican Party platform back then wanted or claimed to want basically all the same things as Democrats (better healthcare, better wages, a cleaner environment), just with the free market delivering the goods rather than “big government.”
—If you voted for him, it’s because he was black and you were atoning for your own liberal white guilt.
All of these criticisms were rolling around in my head at the time — some more valid than others. Not that I hated Obama or thought he was a Muslim Kenyan Pakistani Who Hated America And Palled Around With Terrorists, I just had questions.
On the other hand you had a decorated war hero with an extensive U.S. Senate record, a reputation for truth-telling and maverick bipartisanship, and even though I disagreed with McCain on issues like the Iraq War, his seriousness and love of country were obvious.
This made me one of the only McCain supporters on my college campus, to the point the newspaper actually interviewed me.
When Obama won in ‘08 and then again beat Romney in ‘12, I didn’t have strong feelings either way. I did think it was cool to have our First Black President and wished him the best of luck. Same as McCain and Romney themselves did in their concession speeches.
Remember when defeated Republican Presidential candidates actually conceded and did their best to bind up the country’s wounds after pitched and grueling campaigns? That was awesome
