Would you please fill in the details for those of us not in the know? It does sound juicy…
I’ll make my position plain and objective. IMHO…to be classy, Gore has to:
Not mention the Popular vote.
Use the word concede.
Throw his full support behind Bush and call him President-elect.
Urge concillation and acceptance by his supporters.
That would do it for me.
Gore has made it quite clear that this election is not over. The bet was for 400 electors. I’m holding out hope that the Gore electors will be so disgusted by Gore they will switch their vote. We will know if I lose on Dec. 18th. However…if Gore sees fit to concede, then I will also concede.
I’m going with 4 flags, no Tipper appearance, but probably a mention.
My point was not that he would have any binding effect, but that he would not have a classy, definitive concession speech. (Which is what this thread IS about. Remember?)
Er, bad choice of words, Freedom. Dwyer was Pennsylvania State Treasurer back in the late '80’s. He got in trouble over some bribery/embezzlement scandal (the details of which are pretty hazy to me now). After a court hearing which found him all but guilty, Dwyer held a press conference, ostensibly to resign. He spoke for about 15 minutes, during which he started rambling a lot, blaming a lot of people totally unrelated to the scandal and not exactly sounding all that with it. Suddenly he picks a big envelope out of his pocket and takes out a gun. After holding the gun in the air for a while, he put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
I saw this on TV live. That’s the sort of thing you don’t forget in a hurry.
DING DING DING DING!!!
Folks, no need to keep playing! WE HAVE A WINNER…yes, WE HAVE A WINNER.
In the ongoing contest to see who can say the meanest, nastiest, rudest, most vile and unforgivably ugly thing, the judges have determined that this latest entry simply cannot be topped.
Congratulations…your family must be very proud! Any word for the folks at home?
stoid
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Duke *
**
I only saw the instant replay, myself. But it was very educational regards the details to such an act. Ever since I saw it, I laugh at the puny attempts by filmakers to portray blowing ones’ brains out iin such a way as to be shocking. They just can’t compete.
stoid
Freedom2: *I’ll make my position plain and objective. IMHO…to be classy, Gore has to:
[1] Not mention the Popular vote.
[2] Use the word concede.
[3a] Throw his full support behind Bush and [3b] call him President-elect.
[4] Urge concillation and acceptance by his supporters. *
I don’t see the need for Gore to whitewash this very flukey and statistically inconclusive election with [2] and [3b]. I agree on the desirability of [1], [3a], and [4], though.
Duke, thanks for clearing up the Dwyer reference for us (I think. Yuck). TampaFlyer: EEEEEWWWWW!!! You have just totally, permanently, disqualified yourself as a judge of “class”.
Ugh! I was asking my dad about it…he said it was a big scandal.
Duke:
[Moderator Hat ON]
Personal insults are not allowed in Great Debates, Duke. The proper action would have been to flame Tampa’s breathtakingly tasteless comment in the BBQ Pit we have thoughtfully provided for that purpose. Thanks.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
I think that any chance for “with class” from either of the candidates expired about a week after the election. My bet is on Gore not using the actual word “concede” in his speech tonight.
Here’s an honest question, perhaps better suited for GQ or for my own research: of all the presidential race concession speeches in American history, how many of them actually did use the word “concede” in their text?
My votes
Popular Vote (5)
mention Wife (2)
court battles mentioned (5)
“will of the people” (10)
concede (0)
Gaudere: Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I really should have known better <tail between legs>.
(Darn, I was really hoping I’d make it to 1,000 posts without a moved/closed thread or a telling-off from a moderator. Goes to show you how much I was irked by Tampa’s classless statement.)
He didn’t mention the popular vote.
He offered his “concession”.
He called Bush the “president-elect” (several times).
He urged everyone to put aside partisanship, and “to unite behind our next president”.
[homer voice]
IN YOUR FACE, FREEDOM2!
[/homer voice]
More cynically, I’ll say that he’s preserving his chances for running in '04.
A word comes to mind, in Yiddish:
Mensch.
Now, let’s see him dodge responsibility for losing an election that was supposed to be a shoe-in.
As one of those who hardly ever has anything good to say about Gore, I would be remiss if I didn’t say I thought it was a good speech.
Too bad Gore couldn’t deliver a good speech if his life depended on it. He tried hard to sound natural, I can tell that. And that’s not the important point here. To the extent that he believes what he said, I give him kudos. I hope other Democrats will take their cues from him, and not from the likes of what is coming from Jesse Jackson.
I thougt Gore’s speech showed him at his very best. It was short, meaningful, and gracious. Not bad for an “inertebrate.” Well done.
Well, Gore certainly fooled the hell out of me.
It was by far, a more gracious and appropriately toned speech than I thought him willing to give. I commend him on his actions.
SouthernStyle
Not too bad, as it turns out, but he couldn’t help but be a bit smarmy at the end.
Just listened to it.
Thats class.