The concession speech

This is probably the worst thing a politician has to do in an election and it is also one of the most important things a politician has to do.

One of the reasons to the stability of the US has been the concession speech by the politician that loses the election. Most elections for president in the US have been close over the years. I’m not talking about electoral college close, but popular vote close. The 1944, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 were only separated by 3.5 million or less votes. Actually not counting the 2004 election, the number of votes separating the winner and loser drops to 2.5 million or less.

When one thinks about how many people voted in an election, (120 million in 2004 for example), 3.5 million is not a lot of votes for the victor to win by. What if Kerry said “man the barricades” instead of “Bush won” in his speech? Well today we’d be looking at a civil war of words and some hot heads would try to make it a civil war in deeds.

The concession speech where the candidate that looses the election says he lost it and it was not because of fraud does a lot to cool the passions people put into elections and helps to channel their energy and frustration into a productive mode rather then destructive mode. You can bet the Democratic Party is already thinking of 2008 and how to win back the Presidency.

If Kerry had won, this entry would have Kerry and Bush trade places and replace Democratic with Republican and that’s it.

When I was in college, one of my Political Science Professors talked about the importance of the concession speech. Back in 1952 he was a young idealistic democratic campaign worker and was crushed when Stevenson lost to Eisenhower. He was so convinced that Stevenson should have won and was so anti-Ike that he was (he said) ready to man the barricades. And there were other folks who were willing to join him. Then Stevenson came on the air and said Ike won and he lost. It took the steam out of my professors anger and let him think again.

I do not agree with Al Gore on most political issues, and I do not think he did his reputation any service on how he conducted himself after the 2000 election. But he did earn my gratitude when he conceded the election in December.

I do not agree with John Kerry on most political issues, but I have more respect for him now then I did before the election (due to the things he said or his people said) because instead of saying “man the barricades” he said “Bush won”, even though it hurt like crazy to say it. It shows he is a man who loves his country more then his ambition.