The refrain to the Boz Scagg’s hit “It’s Over” asks:
“Why can't you just get it through your head. It's over. It's over now.
Yes you heard me clearly now I said. It's over. It’s over now.”
Graceful concession and the peaceful transition of power are essential to democratic society. The parameters are succinctly stated in the admonition to be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat.
It is mind-boggling that the candidate defeated in the 2014 Republican Senatorial Campaign announced a 2018 candidacy when he has yet to concede the previous campaign.
One does not envy Mississippi cinema owners when no 2018 film will rival the Political Theatre of the Absurd observed for free — allowing entertainment dollars to be used otherwise.
Sen. Thad Cochran’s retirement puts a second senatorial seat into play, allowing us to be doubly amused.
Seriously: Americans do not like sore losers. How can one mount a serious political campaign after failing to concede an election and support the party nominee?
Maybe the candidate will be Richard Nixon who won the Presidency in 1968 after his 1960 loss. Adlai Stevenson provides a better paradigm, losing both his 1952 and 1956 Presidential bids: If one cannot win initially, one had best acknowledge that.
Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 but lost the Electoral College. He disappointed followers upon conceding the election to George W. Bush but doing so allowed seamless continuity of American government. It evidenced that the electoral system yields convincing conclusions.
It had to be devastating to win the popular vote and lose the Electoral College. Yet Gore recognized the rules and did not undermine established processes; knowing that rules are as written, not what one might wish that they are; creating chaos and undermining institutional stability.
Hilary Clinton was not as gracious. She spent most of 2017 as a disgruntled loser, seeming as if she was cheated after winning the popular vote but not the Electoral College. She appeared as if a government official in exile. Her failure to disappear deprived her party of the opportunity to nourish new talent and shape its 2020 agenda.
I occasionally desire parliamentary government: Administrations collapse following no confidence votes and do not linger until a term of years concludes.
The ruling party elects a new leader. The agenda changes accordingly. David Cameron commented before departing 10 Downing Street, for the last time, two summers ago, “I was the future once”: He lost the Brexit vote. He resigned. His party remained in power. Theresa May replaced him.
Closer to home former Secretary of State Dick Molpus lost the 1995 gubernatorial campaign to incumbent Gov. Kirk Fordice and struck one as acting as if the loss was a hoax and a mistake rather than the informed decision of the electorate.
The failure to step aside gracefully deprived the Mississippi Democratic Party of the opportunity to develop new leadership. Mississippi was denied a fully-functioning two-party system.
Perhaps one day, Mississippi will elect more Democrats statewide. For now, we have the equivalent of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard”. The silent film legend who could not transition to “Talkies.” Cloistered in a decaying mansion, alone with her butler, who wrote and posted fan mail, fed her delusions, as do Democrats who cannot acknowledge their loss over 20 years ago.
Politics is about winning races not creating idols as if a Vanity Fair cover. When someone loses, the disappointed hopeful and his or her supporters should acknowledge failure and move on, giving new talent a chance.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider.
