Jim Talent's Goodbye

Sen. Jim Talent gave his final speech on the U.S. Senate floor today.

And as the Associated Press reports, it was classic Talent.

"The Missouri Republican chose instead to deliver a weighty, 30-minute address urging Congress to boost military spending and warned that nothing is more important to the country that its security," writes Sam Hananel of the A.P.

A moving money graph:

Talent also paid tribute to American troops, saying he visited on Thursday with the wife and children of Army Sgt. 1st Class Randall L. Lamberson, 36, of Springfield, Mo., who was killed in an explosion in Iraq on April 10. "I asked her how she was able to bear her grief with such grace and fortitude," Talent said of his conversation with Lamberson's wife, Dana. She told Talent that she just remembered what her husband always said when times were tough: "Life is only as difficult as you make it." Talent said such encounters have convinced him that "America's time of leadership is not done. I ask the Senate to honestly face the true cost of defending this nation."

The article notes that Sen. Kit Bond gave Talent a tribute on the floor, calling him "a workhorse, not a showhorse."

Bond recalled election night, when Talent got word that he had lost the race to Democrat Claire McCaskill.

"He was a man of unfailing good humor and courage," Bond said. "With style he thanked his Lord, his friends and gracefully accepted his fate."

The A.P. also notes that this year's contest will go down as the most expensive in state history.

$27 million bucks spent! That's the two candidates combined.

Talent spent $15.65 million; McCaskill tore through $11.2 million.

Despite being outspent by more than $4 million, McCaskill won the race with 49.6 percent of the vote to 47.3 percent for Talent.