John McCain also can.

Last night John McCain delivered the best speech of his campaign. It wasn't about loss. For a brief moment he rose above the odious web of incitation, fabrication, innuendo, attack, smear and dirty tricks that is now the standard Republican political campaign operation mode.

What I know about John McCain could probably fit on a 3x5 index card. I don't really know that much about Barack Obama, either. I have been at times, an enthusiastic observer of US politics but I lost my taste for it around the time the Republicans used September 11 to cement their hold on government. But there are elements to this campaign that have caught my attention.

Earlier in the evening, a comment from two unidentified Republican war-room peons was posted amidst the busy patchwork of information bits and bites that CNN favours in its broadcasts:

No path to victory.

John McCain probably figured that out a few weeks ago. He certainly did not seem surprised, angry or unprepared.

What I sensed about John McCain is that he was not a bitter or defeated man as he stood in front of a well-tailored and blue-blooded Republican crowd at a glitzy Arizona resort. He seemed quite relieved and even relaxed. It was over. He spoke firmly, with grace and honour. The best of John McCain was on view. He did not provide his supporters with the catharsis they wanted, but that is no longer his duty.

There will surely be a litany of naming, blaming and shaming in private and public conversations between Republicans. The acrimony, the mendacity and the rapacity that the party has promoted within and outside its ranks may continue; John McCain has left the building.