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“We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example - a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them”

a LODESTAR? ************************************************************

From etymology dictionary

lodestar (n.)

late 14c. (late 13c. as a surname), "a star that leads or serves to guide," an old name for the pole star as the star that "leads the way" in navigation; from lode (n.) "a way, a course, something to be followed" (a Middle English variant spelling of load (n.) that preserved the original Old English sense of that noun) + star (n.). Figurative use from late 14c. Compare lodestone. Similar formation in Old Norse leiðarstjarna, German Leitstern, Danish ledestjerne. Relate entries & more 

*ster- (2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "star." Buck and others doubt the old suggestion that it is a borrowing from Akkadian istar "venus." The source of the common Balto-Slavic word for "star" (Lithuanian žvaigždė, Old Church Slavonic zvezda, Polish gwiazda, Russian zvezda) is not explained.

It forms all or part of: aster; asterisk; asterism; asteroid; astral; astro-; astrobiology; astrobleme; astrognosy; astroid; astrolabe; astrolatry; astrology; astromancy; astronaut; astronomy; AstroTurf; constellation; disaster; Estella; Esther; instellation; interstellar; lodestar; star; stardust; starfish; starlet; starlight; starry; stellar; stellate.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit star-; Hittite shittar, Greek aster "star," with derivative astron; Latin stella, Breton sterenn, Welsh seren "star."

lode (n.) Middle English spelling of load (n.) "a burden," it keeps most of the word's original meaning "a way, a course, something to be followed." The differentiation in sense took place 16c., that of spelling somewhat later. Mining sense of "vein of metal ore" is from c. 1600, from the notion of miners "following" it through the rock. Also found in lodestone, lodestar, and, somewhat disguised, livelihood. Middle English also had lodesman (c. 1300) "leader, guide; pilot, steersman."

Guess you can take your pick on this one.

A Pole star, venus,ishtar, isis, vein of ore, miner, pilot, steersman.

As an aside there is this

lodestone (n.) "magnetically polarized oxide of iron," 1510s, literally "way-stone," from lode (n.) + stone (n.). So called because it was used to make compass magnets to guide mariners. Figurative use from 1570s. Compare lodestar.