Sadly, his death serves as an almost perfect metaphor for the death of the old Republican Party, the one personified in the past 100-plus years by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. It was a party that believed, like McCain, that the United States should stand for the advance of freedom abroad and the rule of law at home. It was confident that American commerce could compete with anyone, and that immigration was essential to a growing nation.
In remarkably short order, that party has been turned into a Donald Trump cheering section. It has adopted Trump’s previously un-Republican positions on trade, immigration and authoritarianism, while enabling his childish outbursts and ethical outrages.
In short, many in today’s GOP are woefully lacking in character and pragmatism, the very McCain hallmarks that made him such an invaluable senator and statesman. To say he will be missed hardly conveys the void his passing leaves. He had the gravity to serve as a beacon in a troubling time, to remind his country and his party of genuine American greatness.
We need more leaders to show us true north. McCain left us a shining example worth following.
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