Hillary Clinton

Her Sister

(6,444 posts) Tue Jul 5, 2016, 09:19 AM Jul 2016

Will Either Sanders or Trump Ever Give Hillary Clinton the Satisfaction of a Concession Speech?(HRC)

Now, such conspiracy claims are not emanating from the official Bernie Sanders campaign. But the closer we get to the Democratic National Convention, the more it seems possible that Sanders could endorse and even campaign for Hillary Clinton without ever conceding she beat him fair and square. After all, the piquancy of his demand for nominating-process reforms depends on the feeling that the system this time around was indeed "rigged," with the way California handled votes by pro-Bernie No Party Preference (i.e., independent) voters being part of the "rigging" (as always, California required indies participating in the Democratic primary to ask for a Democratic ballot, even when voting by mail. That was naturally confusing — especially to first-time voters — since all non-presidential contests involved a single ballot for everybody). After the convention is over and Bernie has raised hands with Clinton and her running mate on the final night, the whole point of making this sort of concession may become moot. So the legend of Bernie being robbed of the nomination could well live on.

So let's say late on the night of November 8, or early in the morning of November 9, Clinton is declared the winner of the general election by something less than a landslide nationally, with a close enough margin in some states to justify claims that moving around this or that small group of voters might have produced a Donald Trump win instead. How will Trump and his fans react? Think a conspiracy theory might come to mind? Will the guy who for months couldn't stop alleging that Ted Cruz "stole" Iowa by "lying" about Ben Carson's candidacy (a very minor event on caucus night, even if you believe Team Cruz was "lying" about Carson's possible withdrawal from the race rather than understandably misinterpreting his stated desire to take a "break&quot

is going to concede easily, or at all? It's really unlikely, when you think about it.

And so, as Nate Cohn says:

Clinton could go down as the first candidate to win both the nomination and the presidency — perhaps even decisively — without a proper concession.

Maybe it won't matter to her, but in terms of her ability to govern, the persistence of claims that she did not legitimately become president could be one of many factors making the 45th president's job that much harder.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/will-sanders-or-trump-ever-formally-concede.html?mid=twitter_nymag

13 replies

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Will Either Sanders or Trump Ever Give Hillary Clinton the Satisfaction of a Concession Speech?(HRC) (Original Post) Her Sister Jul 2016 OP

... without ever conceding she beat him fair and square. Her Sister Jul 2016 #1

Though not a requirement for anyone to concede it will still go down as a win for Hillary. Thinkingabout Jul 2016 #2

Thank you Thinkingabout! You're right what other people do or don't Her Sister Jul 2016 #3

If Hillary wins - EVEN by a landslide - BlueMTexpat Jul 2016 #4

Neither of them can bear the prospect of losing to an inherently inferior female...so no. Surya Gayatri Jul 2016 #5

Their lil inconvenient problem is that she is brilliant! Her Sister Jul 2016 #6

Light years beyond either of them... Surya Gayatri Jul 2016 #7

^^^This!!! DemonGoddess Jul 2016 #8

+1,000,000 Dawson Leery Jul 2016 #9

I think PRESIDENT Barack Obama just covered it for both of them down in Charlotte, NC. George II Jul 2016 #10

He totally and absolutely did!!! Her Sister Jul 2016 #11

No. nt William769 Jul 2016 #12

Says more about them than about our gal! Miles! Her Sister Jul 2016 #13

Her Sister

(6,444 posts)

1. ... without ever conceding she beat him fair and square.

Reply to Her Sister (Original post)

Tue Jul 5, 2016, 09:21 AM

Jul 2016

She beat him fair & square!

But the closer we get to the Democratic National Convention, the more it seems possible that Sanders could endorse and even campaign for Hillary Clinton without ever conceding she beat him fair and square

Will Either Sanders or Trump Ever Give Hillary Clinton the Satisfaction of a Concession Speech?
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/will-sanders-or-trump-ever-formally-concede.html?mid=twitter_nymag

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)

2. Though not a requirement for anyone to concede it will still go down as a win for Hillary.

Reply to Her Sister (Original post)

Tue Jul 5, 2016, 09:33 AM

Jul 2016

She will not place her attention on such matters but to do the job needed by a president. She will be a great president.

Her Sister

(6,444 posts)

3. Thank you Thinkingabout! You're right what other people do or don't

Reply to Thinkingabout (Reply #2)

Tue Jul 5, 2016, 09:34 AM

Jul 2016

is none of our business! Says more about them!

HRC #45 will be awesome President!!! Glad she is our nominee!

BlueMTexpat

(15,496 posts)

4. If Hillary wins - EVEN by a landslide -

Reply to Her Sister (Original post)

Tue Jul 5, 2016, 09:51 AM

Jul 2016

I expect that the GOP will do everything in their power to claim that she did not legitimately become President. That's just what they do.

Sanders will be a footnote in history by then, whatever he does. He's badly squandered his goodwill right now and if he continues as he is now doing (I have every expectation that he will, but have a slight hope that he will somehow choose to act responsibly instead), he will have no credibility whatsoever left post-election among his colleagues. Even if he does formally "concede," any damage has already been done and that damage will NOT hurt Hillary. There are too many credible and well-respected surrogates (Prez O, VP Biden, various Senators including Elizabeth Warren, and other politicians, business leaders, union leaders, educators, etc., etc., etc.) who will be campaigning their hearts out for her.

Soon it will be too late for Bernie even to get on the Hillary train. I suspect that at least some are wary of what he might do if he did get on. He could continue to undermine her, as he has been doing with all the "she must do this and that and the other before I concede ....." He has lost a lot of trust.

But a concession might limit the damage to his own reputation among the people he still has to work with in Congress. He's not thinking too far in advance on that and karma can be a real bitch. He's not going anywhere except back to the Senate. There is no way whatsoever that any rational person would support having him head up a cabinet agency because those jobs are for people who have demonstrated that they can work with and support the 45th President, who will more likely than not be Hillary.