One of the best barometers of statesmanship is sometimes exemplified by losing politicians who make the effort to congratulate their successful opponents.
At the national level, of course, such an act is considered a must, because of the media attention that goes along with the congratulatory phone call, often hand-in-hand with a concession. Whether the loser actually wants to congratulate—and personally concede to—a sometimes reviled opponent is irrelevant compared to the bad publicity that would follow for not doing so. In some cases, it is more important to look like a statesman than it is to actually be one. Perhaps more accurately, the threat of appearing to be a sore loser is more significant than whether one is in private.
Thus, I have always been deeply impressed by those on the short end of the election stick at the local level who take the time to congratulate the winner. In some cases, no media, no one watching, and no one knowing…short of the winner and the few that are told. Statesmanship, if it is possible to attribute that term to a non-elected, living person (and I refuse to use the "politically correct" bastardized version of the word…a stateseman can be a woman or a man).
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February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Interesting point.
Do you know the losing statewide Republican nominee who never congratulated the landslide winner last November?
February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I had the distinct honor of working for Tom Bordonaro’s Vice Chair campaign and I can verify that he is indeed a class act. What you see in public is the character he exhibits in private. Tom Bordonaro is an amazing leader and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked with him and his outstanding campaign team.
February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Bill, while I think it is unlikely Claude Parrish called Bill Lockyer, you are undoubtedly referring to Poochigian and Brown?
I know that Jerry Brown is your buddy, but I think he is a left wing nut. A sentiment that is no-doubt prevelant on this site.
February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Bad manners are the province of bores.
While Barry is tactful as always, I suspect that the real target of his ire is his fellow San Diegan, the imperious Warene Wall.
Ms. Wall, as we all witnessed last weekend, was a less than gracious looser to our beloved Jon Fleischman, storming out of the meeting hall to fume in private without so much as a wave of congratulations to the winner.
And now, apparently, Warene strives to replace Ron Nering and become San Diego’s GOP Chair.
Dear Lord, please spare us from the bores.
February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Barry,
You are right.
In the past few months of working with Tom Bordonaro, I have been very impressed by his humility, integrity, servants heart, leadership skills and commitment to the Republican Party.
I thoroughly enjoyed managing his campaign and getting to know his family.
It was a wonderful experience and I would glady support him in any future campaigns.
February 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Well, Meredith, you have a very skewed view of things.
As you may have noticed, the unremittingly hostile and negative campaign against Jerry Brown availed not at all. He beat the Poochigian campaign like a drum, by a bigger margin than Arnold crushed the foolish Phil Angelides campaign.
As I told Chuck Poochigian personally would happen, given his course, months before the election. And reminded him personally last weekend.
You are out of touch with the electorate of California.
And you either do the classy thing.
Or you do not. :)
And when you do not, you don’t get a second chance.
February 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Bill, although Meredith greatly admires Jon you shouldn’t attribute his comments to her.
Since you spend most of your day reading FR and posting comments, you should know how the read the author of each post.
February 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jon, as I’ve mentioned to you before, the dotted line between the post and the author leaves it looking like the author has posted the comment after, not before. See the above referenced Meredith-Bill-Karen example of the confusion, regarding your comment. I rest my case.
And, just so it’s clear who wrote this one, I’m Barry Jantz and I approved these comments.
February 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Darn, Jon and his web folks are good. No sooner do I post the above, and he takes action to resolve the confusion. The dotted lines have been moved, it’s clearer now who posted the comments, the angst has been ridden, and the FlashReport is better for it. Now, on to Global Warming.