“I’m a Democrat. And I Loved John McCain”
“My name’s Joe Biden. I’m a Democrat, and I loved John McCain.”
Those words had an undeniable political resonance when they were spoken by Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday as he eulogized his former colleague, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The reason his partisan identity was so important is that, although Biden is a liberal Democrat and McCain was a conservative Republican, the two men managed to forge a strong friendship that endured even when the two would staunchly disagree about important issues.
“I always thought of John as a brother. We had a hell of a lot of family fights,” Biden told the mourners, who laughed at his quip. Their close relationship was underscored when Biden pointed out that, “I trusted John with my life. The thing that’s understated the most was his optimism. That’s what made John special, made him a giant among us.”
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