Sen. Jeff Flake on Sunday said that a penchant for forgiveness and an ability to see the good in opponents were several of Sen. John McCain’s most enduring traits.
“I think by seeing the good in our opponents, by being quick to forgive, by realizing that there’s something more important than ourselves, to put service over and above our self-interest as he often said and as he lived — I think that that’s how we honor him,” he said.
Mr. Flake said the greatest lesson he learned from Mr. McCain was “to forgive.”
“People talk about he had a temper, it was passionate — that’s certainly the case — but he would quickly forgive and move on,” Mr. Flake, Arizona Republican, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“And to see the good in his opponents — that is something that particularly these days, we could use a lot more of — that’s a lesson he taught everyone,” he said.
Mr. McCain, the longtime Arizona senator, died Saturday at the age of 81 after a yearlong bout with cancer. Tributes from the political world — and around the globe — have been pouring in.
Mr. Flake recalled one time after he had recently been elected to the House when he had been getting beaten up at home by local press and elected officials for challenging federal spending.
He said he saw Mr. McCain approaching him on a plane one time and that he was expecting to get a similarly disparaging earful.
“He put his finger in my chest and just said, ’don’t back down.’ He said ’You’re in the right and they’ll come around,’” he said. “And it was all that I needed. And from that time forward, I really appreciated him and his friendship and his advice.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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