"Win or lose, I didn't want anyone ever to have fair grounds to criticize us for resorting to any kind of racist dog whistling. I wanted to win. I wanted to be President. But I, too, recognized the social progress Obama's candidacy represented, and I didn't want to impede it by inciting, even with a wink and a nod here and there or with language that had double meanings, the prejudices that have marred our history. "
- John McCain and Mark Salter