Dear Senator McCain

Congratulations on running for President of the U.S. I wish I could feel guilty or otherwise bad for not voting for you, but I don't. Here's why--and I know you don't really care. You don't know me. But hey, it's my blog.

So, here's why I can't apologize for not voting for you. Until 2000, your actions consistently showed your dedication to applying your principles in the service of the public. Public service--doing things for people like us. However, in 2000, you started supporting Bush--and you lost my vote. However grudgingly or unwillingly, you campaigned for him, you supported him in public--and all the while, you knew better. You knew that he doesn't care about people like us. You let us down.

However, you are a principled man. In your concession speech, you took a step back--not backwards, back--to the John McCain I respect (though often disagree with). (Although you could have shushed the boos a little more vigorously, just as in the campaign, you could have told that scared woman that Arabs are OK people, too. But woulda, coulda, shoulda.) As a principled man, you recognize other principled men, even those you disagree with. These people can help you now.

So here's a suggestion. Phone the best ex-President we've ever had, Jimmy Carter. Find out from him how to best use your power now. He has walked that line between doing and advising, and between advising and interfering, and he's gotten it wrong sometimes and right sometimes, and he's happily lived with the consequences.

When you call him, he will probably tell you this, but if he doesn't, I will. Phone Hillary Clinton. (Force Bill to give her the phone.) She's another person who's smart as a whip. The two of you claimed bipartisanship as credentials in the campaign. Show us that you weren't just claiming them--that you really want to be part of the solutions during the Obama Administration. If you're both in the Senate, wield your power there. If one or both of you gets or takes a cabinet position, so much the better. You can see how it would help each of you individually to do this--but it will help all the rest of us even more.

President Carter will likely also tell you this: phone Barak Obama. Every week, every day, whatever. Keep calling. He has shown us that he will surround himself with smart people. He will take your call. You are not only a principled man--your principles actually have a solid foundation other than fear, and you're intelligent. The President will need your perspective. He will continue to listen to you, and he will probably co-opt your better ideas, and you may or may not get the credit--and you know that's how public service works.

In fact, you can be sure that he will always take a call from you--which, come to think of it, is why I can't apologize for not voting for you. If you had won, I doubt you'd have worked with Senator Obama. You would have been told that it was unwise. And unfortunately, those are the people you listened to during your campaign, instead of your own common sense or better angels or whatever label you want to apply.

But the campaign is over now. Congratulations on a hard-fought race. And now I look forward to seeing John McCain, the real one, in the Senate again.