Job well done, Maverick.

McCain says: “Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations. How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it. But tonight Senator, job well done.”

Not just classy but shrewd, as it’ll buy back some of the goodwill he may have squandered over the past month by hitting Obama so hard. McCain’s done an admirable job during the campaign of trying to rehabilitate the GOP’s image on race to what little extent he can, made more admirable by the fact that in this year of all years it won’t do him any good with black voters. I’m relieved my prediction was wrong and our e-mailer’s was right.

Update: Here’s the video. Belated exit question: Which nutroots blogger will be the first to call him “patronizing”?

Update: One other shrewd aspect to this is that if Obama attacks him in the speech, it makes him look ungracious.

Update: The Obama camp grumbles an obligatory thank you.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe — who did not know the content of the ad until we read him the script — just told us that the McCain ad is “a very nice gesture. We wish more of his ads took that tone, but it’s a very nice gesture.”

Plouffe said the Obama campaign would run a similar ad next week congratulating McCain on his nomination.