Grace in Defeat

Driving to work the morning of November 5th, I heard a local conservative talk-show host utter what has now become the mantra of defeated Republicans: "I will not treat Obama the way the Democrats treated President Bush these past eight years."


At least in public, the Democrats refused to treat President Bush with respect. They cast the President and his advisers as either blundering idiots or evil geniuses out for nothing more than personal gain. They cast the American people who twice elected President Bush as a bunch of duped fools driven by fear and bizarre religious ideology. No doubt the left's estimation of the American people changed on November 4th.


But how should Republicans act in defeat? Should we wish Obama and his successful congressional Democrats luck and promise to support "our President"? Have we forgotten the Kerry-Edwards ticket's refusal to concede in 2004 when, despite President Bush's decisive victory, Kerry refused to call the re-elected President until the day after the election and even then offered no more than a few terse words? But our 2008 candidate - John McCain - seemed born to give his concession speech. And suddenly the biased media has fallen in love with McCain once again.


The country just elected a bunch of leftists to control both houses of congress and the White House. Of course, we must respect the results. But we need not act any more gracious than that. Respecting the outcome is already one step farther than Democrats ever went following the results of 2000 and 2004 when Republicans were repeatedly accused to stealing the vote in Florida and Ohio respectively. Democrats were sore losers. Perhaps we Republicans should be too.