The Mornings After
As of 3:30pm on Thursday November 9, 2006, Senator George Allen conceeded defeat to his opponent, Jim Webb. In so doing, the balance of power officially shifted the Democrats' way in the Senate, the House and really the whole country. Most of this was covered yesterday. While it is great to revel in the victory, and it is grand, it is more important ot see how those who were defeated comport themselves. Santorum has taken the opporunity to file a couple of last ditch attempts to stay in office. Others decided to bow out gracefully, some have not bowed out yet and others made one last great hurrah and then went off into that good night. And this was one of the few times when party mattered less than character, oratory and general mensch-hood.
By far, the most striking was the concession speech given by Harold Ford Jr. Democrat in the Tennessee Senate race. Ford, who faced by all accounts the nastiest race in the country, gave the most eloquent speech. (still looking for a transcript, will post here later. There are no fucking transcripts out there, yay internet. I'm gonna have to do one my fucking self. I spent too long looking for it online and my internet crashed twice). It talked about all the things we REALLY want our politicians to talk about, except when we are voting for them: unifying America, a greater American dream based on hope and generally honor and warm fuzzies. It was, seeing it at the time, quite the step for a man who was winning until his opponent launched one of the most low minded attack ads ever put out against an opponent. Ford did not take the opportunity to blame anyone or be mad at anyone, he thanked everyone and spoke in glowing terms about nature of democracy. In short, we're gonna see him again. And MidnightRanter will probably donate to his campaign when we do. (yeah, it's really good enough I'll have to transcribe for future readers.)
While Ford's was one of the first speeches of the night, another of the most eloquent was the last concession speech given about the 2006 Senatorial campaign. Senator George Allen gave a a decent speech himself (video is on the link to the right, as well as Webb's acceptance speech). He defied a lot of the Republican wisdom and decided NOT to ask for a recount, even though it would have been paid for by the State of Virginia. In fact, that's WHY he didn't want one. He didn't want to put the people of Virginia through any more political turmoil than necessary. He said the people own the government and the people had spoken. He clearly didn't want to be the man responsible for a Florida 2000 like mess this year, even if the Senate hung in the balance. While some may be upset he did not pursue this further, he saw the writing on the wall when canvassing of precincts turned up 1000 more votes so far for Webb, not more for him. He knew he was losing, could fight it, but was a gentleman and gave in so we could all get on with our lives. Except the bloggers who will be confused for a couple of weeks.
Harold Ford really did try his best to win the campaign in Tennessee, but fell short in the face of vicious opposition. He gave good speeches, won some people over but when an opponent throws the idea ofa black man dating a white woman at the Playboy mansion at you in a campaign in Tennessee, it gets bad. Allen, well, misspoke whenever he got the chance. Between Macaca, whether or not he was Jewish or a host of other issues, he will be most remembered for not being able to say anything well. If Allen had spoken as well on the campaign trail as he did on concesion stand, this race would have been over months ago, like all the pundits though it was going to be. And while these two are just examples of going out gracefully, there were many others who did so as well.
Because any one can be great in victory, the true test is defeat.
So it is written, so do I see it.
By far, the most striking was the concession speech given by Harold Ford Jr. Democrat in the Tennessee Senate race. Ford, who faced by all accounts the nastiest race in the country, gave the most eloquent speech. (still looking for a transcript, will post here later. There are no fucking transcripts out there, yay internet. I'm gonna have to do one my fucking self. I spent too long looking for it online and my internet crashed twice). It talked about all the things we REALLY want our politicians to talk about, except when we are voting for them: unifying America, a greater American dream based on hope and generally honor and warm fuzzies. It was, seeing it at the time, quite the step for a man who was winning until his opponent launched one of the most low minded attack ads ever put out against an opponent. Ford did not take the opportunity to blame anyone or be mad at anyone, he thanked everyone and spoke in glowing terms about nature of democracy. In short, we're gonna see him again. And MidnightRanter will probably donate to his campaign when we do. (yeah, it's really good enough I'll have to transcribe for future readers.)
While Ford's was one of the first speeches of the night, another of the most eloquent was the last concession speech given about the 2006 Senatorial campaign. Senator George Allen gave a a decent speech himself (video is on the link to the right, as well as Webb's acceptance speech). He defied a lot of the Republican wisdom and decided NOT to ask for a recount, even though it would have been paid for by the State of Virginia. In fact, that's WHY he didn't want one. He didn't want to put the people of Virginia through any more political turmoil than necessary. He said the people own the government and the people had spoken. He clearly didn't want to be the man responsible for a Florida 2000 like mess this year, even if the Senate hung in the balance. While some may be upset he did not pursue this further, he saw the writing on the wall when canvassing of precincts turned up 1000 more votes so far for Webb, not more for him. He knew he was losing, could fight it, but was a gentleman and gave in so we could all get on with our lives. Except the bloggers who will be confused for a couple of weeks.
Harold Ford really did try his best to win the campaign in Tennessee, but fell short in the face of vicious opposition. He gave good speeches, won some people over but when an opponent throws the idea ofa black man dating a white woman at the Playboy mansion at you in a campaign in Tennessee, it gets bad. Allen, well, misspoke whenever he got the chance. Between Macaca, whether or not he was Jewish or a host of other issues, he will be most remembered for not being able to say anything well. If Allen had spoken as well on the campaign trail as he did on concesion stand, this race would have been over months ago, like all the pundits though it was going to be. And while these two are just examples of going out gracefully, there were many others who did so as well.
Because any one can be great in victory, the true test is defeat.
So it is written, so do I see it.