John Mark Reynolds captured my thoughts well on Mitt Romney’s announcement yesterday that he was getting out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. He exhibited a graciousness that is too rare in public life today. Here is a brief excerpt from Reynolds’ post…

A gentleman knows how to lose and do so with dignity.

He knows what is important and what is not. He lives for a cause bigger than self.

Nothing so proved the point that Mitt Romney is a gentleman and a statesman as his withdrawing from the race.

He could have continued and built up delegates for himself. He could not win. Most important, he loves this nation and this nation is at war. If the Democrats win, then all the sacrifice made will be for nothing. He withdrew when he did not have to do so to attempt to help the bipartisan coalition that wants to win.

If Romney cared only for self, he would have postured as the leader of the angry right, but Romney is not an angry man. He is a gentleman and a gentleman knows when to fight and when fighting is just self-indulgent reaction. The race for the nomination was effectively over and Romney knew it.

I follow politics more than I probably should (kind of like the train wreck that you cannot look away from). It took me some time to warm up to Romney. He seemed a little too polished, a little too rich, a little too willing to change his positions to match the profile he thought would win the nomination. But seeing him in defeat, I saw character that I wish I saw in more people running for office.