In 2016 I was supposed to write a public scholarship piece on Trump's concession speech. I stayed up all night and eventually wrote about Clinton's concession speech. 😨
"A concession speech signals the peaceful transition of power between one leader and the next. While acknowledging change, it also needs to stress continuity: Even though one party will be replaced by another, the republic will endure."
"A good concession speech will use what rhetorical scholars call “transcendent rhetoric,” which emphasizes what unites us, not what divides us."
"Concession speeches work when they validate the democratic process & help the nation to move forward from the divisiveness of the campaign. A failure to persuade the nation to unite and move past the election will make it more difficult for the new president to lead the nation."
I don't know if we'll hear a concession speech tonight or not. I don't expect to hear Trump give one that meets the above criteria, but it would be a hell of a good thing for the nation if he did. If Biden needs to concede, I'm sure he'll say exactly what's needed to unite us.
Because Biden is a president and Trump is a demagogue.
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