McCain breathes a sigh of relief...

You may look at the title of this piece and notice the corresponding date. Yes, the historical campaign for the 44th U.S. Presidency finally came to a close as Sen. Barack Obama handily defeated Sen. John McCain to become the first African-American President-Elect in U.S. history.

But this piece does not focus on the country's next President, but instead his dearly defeated opponent, John McCain.

In watching John McCain's very gracious speech last night, whereby he conceded defeat to Obama, there was a sense that John was not about to raise hell or whine like a baby. There was a slight touch about his voice and they way he smiled that indicated McCain was feeling something quite unexpected that night: relief.

I may be relatively young, but I remember the pre-election McCain. He was a humourous, delightful old guy who routinely made appearances on late night television shows like David Letterman and Jay Leno, and was one of the oldest and only politicians to go on those shows. Despite the recent overdose of the term, John McCain was actually a maverick by Republican standards. He was loathed by many members of the Republican party because of it. He prescribed to a more moderate approach than many of them, taking a more progressive stance on health care, climate change and gun control. And just as he said repeatedly throughout the campaign, he had crossed the floor many times and worked with the Democrats.

While he agreed with numerous fundamental conservative principles, he was not a bad guy. From a liberal's point of view, you couldn't find a better Republican.

Then came the election. Republican's were unsurprisingly nervous when John McCain became the forerunner and ultimate victor in the race for the Republican nomination. He was considerably more moderate than his opponents: the bass-playing Evangelical Mike Huckabee, the millionaire businessman Mitt Romney and the former New York Mayor (and soon to be featured on next week's 'Where are they now?') Rudy Giuliani. But as the Democratic freight train began to pick up steam, with Obama at the helm, it became clear that McCain's moderate approach would sink him in the election.

The Republican party relies on a few key parts of the country: rural, old white voters and the religious white voters. McCain didn't really appeal to them the same way a Mike Huckabee might've, so it became clear to the party advisors (and to McCain) that John would have to change his tune. He began leaning considerably farther to the right and adopting many traditional Republican strategies including the notorious attack ads. His most notable move was his (though probably made against his true wishes) pick of Gov. Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential nominee. That sure pulled back the Republican base. But McCain lost a lot of respect among the more moderate Republicans, for good reason: Palin is an idiot.

I wouldn't be surprised if McCain is slightly relieved to not be assuming office in January. First of all, look at what he'd inherit. One of the world's most devastating economic crises, two seemingly-endless wars and an America that was reviled by many internationally and domestically. And he'd have to deal with Palin (whom I don't believe he ever would have associated himself with in any other situation) to work through it, not to mention a Democratic House and Senate.

And look who he gets to lose to: one of America's most dynamic and groundbreaking figures of all time, who has electrified an entire nation. Not a bad deal. It might've been a little worse if it had been some Joe-Schmo old white guy.

It's a shame that McCain was forced into changing his tune. Many have lost a lot of respect for him. But after his speech on Tuesday night, he may have gained much of it back.

I've thought throughout the election he's had to act a certain way, a way that was certainly not genuine John McCain. He's been an actor. Now hopefully he can go back to being the old John, keeping everyone in check and playing hardball with both parties. I wouldn't be surprised to see a very positive relationship form between McCain and Obama, or even some kind of post for McCain within the new administration. Either way, he's certainly not going anywhere.

McCain may not have been the worst President we've ever seen, but phew, thank goodness Obama won.