Re: 173 Declared Democratic Presidential Candidates
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:54 pm
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college, just as Al Gore did in 2000. In both cases, the losers conceded to the winners, commenting on the time-honored traditions of our democracy and putting country ahead of politics. This is how it's always been done (as far as I know). It's expected of any candidate who runs for higher office. Even in 1860, Sen. Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency: "Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I'm with you, Mr. President, and God bless you."ant wrote:The Democrats WILL NEVER ACCEPT A TRUMP WIN, no matter what.
It's worth reading both Gore's and Clinton's concession speeches to get a sense of what it means to graciously lose and "yield" to patriotism.
Unfortunately, we still remember in 2016 how Donald Trump declared the election "rigged" (when he believed he was going to lose). And there's widespread expectation he will do the same if he loses this fall. So it is rather curious to see someone claim the Democrats will never accept a Trump victory when they already have once, just four years ago. And this was when Trump lost the popular vote by more than 2 million votes.
What is especially sad is to see how much our country has changed during these last four years, how many time-honored traditions and democratic ideals have been trampled on by a president who was always woefully unfit for the job and who shows nothing but disdain to those who served in Vietnam and in other wars . . . a man who doesn't value or even understand the concept of public service. Can we even imagine Donald Trump delivering a concession speech that puts country ahead of himself—or paying homage to time-honored traditions of the past? I cannot.
But you might be right. If Trump wins this fall, it will be a very bitter pill to swallow for millions and millions of Americans who still remember a time when presidents didn't do such things and knowing, too, how things have gone these past four years. Not swimmingly, I'd say.