Realistic Idealists

In a foreign policy speech to the World Affairs Council in L.A., John McCain referrs to himself as a "realistic idealist." He first states that he is an idealist who believes that it is America's duty to make the world a better place. Shortly after, he says "But I am, from hard experience and the judgment it informs, a realistic idealist." What I found interesting was that McCain did not abandon the world "idealist" when he stated that he was also a realist. He did not simply say that he was also a pragmatist; he emphasizes that he is still an idealist. I think this may be because Americans, for the most part, want to hear from the idealistic candidate; we want to hear how great life will be when this president takes over. McCain almost says that he is realistic with a negative connotation, as if unfortunately, he has seen some evil things in his years of experience, and is now forced to be realistic. Americans, I believe, support idealism over pragmatism. The founding fathers of our country were idealists. They took a huge risk by traveling across the ocean to a completely foreign land, bringing virtually nothing except the hopes of building better lives for themselves. Idealists are not afraid to take risks in order to improve life, and that is what the colonists did, and that is what presidential candidates try to show they will do.
Pragmatism is still very important to many voters, as it would be ridiculous to vote for a candidate who has impossible goals in mind. However, I think the idealist is the one who captures the attention.