AND THAT HAS PROBABLY CAUSED SOME PAIN AT VARIOUS TIMES
DURING THESE MANY MONTHS.
LET’S BRING IN CHRIS MATTHEWS,
HOST OF "HARDBALL."
CHRIS, ON DAYS LIKE TODAY,
NIGHTS LIKE TONIGHT, WE THINK OF
THE GREATNESS OF THIS MAN.
WE’VE LOST A GREAT AMERICAN
PATRIOT.
PATRIOT. A GREAT PUBLIC BENT.
A SENATOR.
A SENATOR. A WARRIOR.
A WARRIOR. A POLITICIAN.
A POLITICIAN. IMPERFECT HE WOULD BE THE FIRST
TO ADMIT AND AS I WAS JUST
SAYING, ON THE NINTH ANNIVERSARY
OF TEDDY KENNEDY’S DIEGO FROM
THE SAME TERRIBLE BRAIN CANCER.
>> WELL, WELL, I SAID THIS
EARLIER TONIGHT.
EARLIER TONIGHT. I STILL THINK IT’S WHAT THE
REASON PEOPLE LOVE THE
GLADIATORIAL ASPECT OF POLITICS
WHERE IT’S ONE AGAINST THE OTHER
AND THERE’S A REAL COMBAT TO IT
AND YOU LOOK FOR GUTS, SPIRITUAL
GUTS.
GUTS. YOU LOOK FOR PEOPLE THAT STICK
TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN, AND BE
THEIR OWN PERSON.
JOHN McCAIN WAS ALWAYS HIS OWN
PERSON.
PERSON. HE WASN’T A KNEE JERK LEFTY OR
RIGHTY.
RIGHTY. HE DIDN’T FIT THE MOLD WHICH WAS
THERE FOR SO MANY OF THESE OTHER
POLITICIANS TO SORT OF SLIP
INTO.
INTO. HE WAS ALWAYS JOHN McCAIN AND HE
COULD BE DISCONCERTING.
YOU COULD LOVE HIM ONE DAY AND
MAD AT HIM THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE
HE WASN’T THERE TO LIKE HIM.
YOU MAY NOT LIKE HIM ON BEING
HAWKISH BUT HE WAS ALWAYS JOHN
McCAIN.
McCAIN. WHEN I FOUND HIM TO BE A
CHARACTER OUT OF THE MURPHYS IN
THE SENSE THAT IF YOU WERE TO
WRITE A ROMANTIC MOVIE ABOUT
AMERICAN POLITICS AND THE U.S.
SENATE ESPECIALLY AND YOU WANTED
TO HAVE HEROES IN IT PEOPLE THAT
STOOD OUT AND HAD GUTS PROFILES
IN COURAGE IF YOU WILL, HE HE
WOULD BE THE PERFECT CANDIDATE
IN REAL LIFE FOR THAT ROMANTIC
ROLE.
ROLE. HE WAS THE CLASSIC U.S. SENATOR.
IF YOU EVER WANT TO GROW UP TO
BE A SENATOR, YOU WOULD WANT TO
GROW UP TO BE JOHN McCAIN.
YOU WOULDN’T GROW UP TO BE JUST
ONE OF THE VOTES FOR EITHER
PARTY.
PARTY. YOU WANTED TO BE SOMEONE WHO HOW
ARE THEY GOING TO VOTE.
I LIKED THE FACT THAT HE WAS A
STATESMAN.
STATESMAN. EVEN HE COULD CAN BE TOUGH ON
UPON ADDS BITTER AT TIMES, HE
DID STAND UP FOR HIS OPPONENT
BARACK OBAMA AT A COUPLE OF
CRITICAL MOMENTS.
CRITICAL MOMENTS. ONE WAS WHEN THAT WOMAN IN THE
CROWD SAID HE WAS A ARAB AND
MEANT THAT IN THE WORST POSSIBLE
WAY.
WAY. HE COULD HE HAVE GONE ALONG WITH
THAT SLUR TO HER.
AND INSTEAD HE SAID NO, HE’S A
DECENT MAN.
DECENT MAN. THAT IS SO RARE IN POLITICS
TODAY.
TODAY. HE ALSO GAVE A MOST WONDERFUL
TESTIMONIAL TO BARACK OBAMA
WHETHER HE THEY WERE GOING HEAD
TO HEAD BAY COUPLE WEEKS BEFORE
ELECTION IN 2008.
HE WAS AT THE AL SMITH DINNER.
I WAS THERE AND I REMEMBER I
WENT BACK AND DUG IT UP.
I HOPE EVERYBODY GETS TO SEE IT
AGAIN.
AGAIN. IT WAS THE MOST GRAND
ENDORSEMENT
ENDORSEMENT ENDORSEMENT -- THAT’S NOT THE
RIGHT WORD, TESTIMONIAL TO HIS
OPPONENT THAT YOU DON’T HEAR
TODAY.
TODAY. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
HE DID IT KNOWING THAT HE WAS
MUCH THE UNDERDOG AS YOU FELLOW
IN TWO AND A HALF WEEKS BEFORE
THE ELECTION, THE MARKET WAS
DROPPING AND EVERYTHING WAS
GOING HAIRWAY AND HE WAS PAYING
THE BRUNT OF IT.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE BEST OF
JOHN McCAIN.
JOHN McCAIN. >> AND CHRIS, THE FACT THAT HE
HAS STILL BEEN A FORCE IN THIS
LAST YEAR, EVEN WHILE HE’S
SUFFERING FROM THIS BRAIN
CANCER, FIGHTING CANCER,
CERTAINLY IN HIS VOTE AGAINST
THE REPEAL OF OBAMACARE LAST
JULY 28th, BUT ALSO A YEAR AGO
JULY 28th, 2017, BUT IN HIS
SPEECH THAT SPEECH IN JULY IN
HIS STATEMENT AFTER HELSINKI, HE
HAS TRIED TO HOLD THE WHITE
HOUSE TO ACCOUNT FOR THINGS THAT
HE, McCAIN BELIEVES IN.
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I DON’T WANT
TO SAY WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE IS
SAYING ABOUT LIFE THESE DAYS BUT
THERE WAS A QUOESHT OF DEENCY IN
POLITICS TILL RECENTLY WHERE YOU
DIDN’T MAKE FWUN OF YOUR
OPPONENT’S APPEARANCE ESPECIALLY
MAYBE IF YOU’RE A MALE AND
MAKING FUN OF A WOMAN’S
APPEARANCE OR SOMETHING AS
LOWDOWN AS THAT.
YOU DIDN’T MAKE UP NICKNAMES
ABOUT YOUR OPPONENTS OR DRIVE
THEM INTO THE MUD.
YOU OUT ARGUED THEM.
YOU MADE YOUR CASE.
YOU DIDN’T COMMISHMINISH THEIR B
McCAIN WAS THAT OLD SCHOOL.
HE WAS BEATEN UP IN THAT 2000
ELECTION THEY WENT AFTER HIS
FAMILY, THEY SAID HE HAD HAD AN
ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER.
ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER. TURNED OUT IT WAS SOMEONE
EVERYONE SOUTH ASIA HE HAD
ADOPTED.
ADOPTED. THEY HAD ADOPTED BUT THEY SPREAD
THE RUMORS IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN
THAT PRIMARY THAT IT WAS HIS
ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER.
ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER. THEY SAID HIS WIFE HAD DRUG
PROBLEMS THROWING EVERYTHING AT
HIM.
HIM. HE STILL STUCK WITH POLITICS.
HE CAME BACK AGAIN AFTER HE
ALMOST GOT KNOCKED OFF IN 2008
AND KEPT GOING AND GOING AND
WOULDN’T QUIT.
WOULDN’T QUIT. I THINK THAT ENDURANCE THAT HE
SHOW OVER THE HANOI HILTON ALL
THOSE YEARS WHERE HE WAS GETTING
BEAT UP AND TORTURED AND
BASICALLY CRIPPLED BOBABOVE HIS
WAIST, HE STUCK WITH IT AND HAD
A SENSE OF HUMOR.
HE WAS A TOUGH GUY.
I THINK HAD HE SOME BITTERNESS
BUT DIDN’T LET IT DRIVE HIM.
I THINK HE RESENTED PEOPLE LIKE
W AND PEOPLE THAT DIDN’T BE IN
VIETNAM THE WAY DID HE BUT
SEEMED TO COME OUT ON TOP.
I’M SURE HE DID.
BUT AS THE PUBLIC MAN WAS A HERO
AND A GRABBED HERO AS OUR
COLLEAGUES SAID EARLIER TONIGHT.
HE HAD A GRANDNESS TO HIM,
SOMETHING OUT OF THE MOVIES.
>> YOU REFERENCED THAT AL SMITH
DINNER 2008.
DINNER 2008. OF COURSE, A CAMPAIGN YEAR YOU
WERE THERE.
WERE THERE. WE’VE GOT SOME OF THAT TAPE.
LET’S PLAY THAT TESTIMONIAL TO
BARACK OBAMA BY HIS COMPETITOR,
JOHN McCAIN.
JOHN McCAIN. >> I DON’T WANT IT GETTING OUT
OF THIS ROOM THAT MY OPPONENT IS
AN IMPRESSIVE FELLOW IN MANY
WAYS.
WAYS. POLITICAL OPPONENTS HAVE A
LITTLE TROUBLE SEEING THE BEST
IN EACH OTHER, BUT I’VE HAD A
FEW GRIMSES OF THIS MAN AT HIS
BEST AND I ADMIRE HIS GREAT
SKILL, ENERGY AND DETERMINATION.
IT’S NOT FOR NOTHING THAT HE’S
INSPIRED SO MANY FOLKS IN HIS
OWN PARTY AND BEYOND.
SENATOR OBAMA TALKING ABOUT
MAKING HISTORY.
MAKING HISTORY. AND HE’S MADE QUITE A BIST OF IT
ALREADY.
ALREADY. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE MERE
INVITATION OF AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CITIZEN TO DINE
AT THE WHITE HOUSE WAS TAKEN AS
AN OUTRAGE AND AN INSULT.
IN MANY CORRIDORS.
TODAY, IS A WORLD AWAY FROM THE
CRUEL AND PRIDEFUL BIGOTRY OF
THAT TIME AND GOOD RIDDANCE.
I CAN’T WISH MY OPPONENT LUCK,
BUT I DO WISH HIM WELL.
>> CHRIS, THAT I’M GLAD YOU
BROUGHT TLAUP BECAUSE THAT IS
QUITE A SPEECH.
AND THE DIGNITY AND THE HONOR
THAT HE BRINGS TO THAT KIND OF
THAT HE BROUGHT TO THAT KIND OF
OCCASION WAS CLACK JOHN McCAIN.
>> THAT’S WHY WE CARE.
IT’S WHY PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND I
ARE SPEND OUR LIVES COVERING