Many people, Democrats in particular, were still beaming from the night before. Others, Republicans in particular, were more reserved and soft spoken.
On Wednesday, a day after Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama won a hard-fought presidential race, many Mississippians paused for a moment to reflect upon what it was like, and, now, how long it will take to heal and move the United States forward, beyond Democrat and Republican. Beyond race.
“You will always have some soreheads who will never get over it. But I believe the overwhelming majority of the American people, including Democrats and Republicans, want this country to be as strong as it can be,” said former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, a Democrat.
That includes Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican opponent who during his concession speech asked for healing and for political parties to unite behind Obama, the nation’s first African-American elected president, Winter said.
“I was greatly impressed by Sen. McCain’s speech,” he said. “I believe you were seeing in that speech the real John McCain, a man of good heart, a man who genuinely believes in this country and who understands … that, if we’re going to solve these very difficult problems we’re confronted with, we may not have to agree with each other, but we have to respect each other.”
