The assignment is to write a concession speech

Some of the students have been downright lyrical

In COMM 3399, a campaign media class I teach, one of this week’s assignments has been to write a political concession speech. I’ve been teaching this class every two years since 2016. We look at framing, messaging, heuristics, cognitive biases and the role social media plays in public discourse, among other topics. We don’t talk about our political beliefs, but about how those beliefs are shared by candidates during campaign season.

I love this class. If you equip young voters with information about what goes on behind the curtain, you equip voters to make good decisions. Some students come in on the first day and admit that they don’t like politics but they needed this class as an elective. If things go the way I want, by the time Election Day arrives, they’re treating it as a high holy day.

We do not teach cynicism. We encourage skepticism.

What’s the difference between a cynic and a skeptic? You can tell a cynic, “Your mother doesn’t love you,” and the cynic’s shoulders will sag and that cynic will walk away believing the statement is fact. You can tell a skeptic the same thing, and the skeptic will do some research before accepting any statement as fact.

We want skeptics. Cynicism is for the weak.

I spend only a little time on concession speeches, and I make it a topic for class during election week. At first, students look at me funny. What kind of lesson is this? But when Donald J. Trump broke with centuries’ of tradition and waited months before he kinda-sorta acknowledged that Joseph Biden was going to move into the White House, all hell broke loose, so…

Did he ever concede? No. Not really. In fact, he’s still out there blowing smoke about winning the election.

A handful of candidates have tried the same fetid brand of election-denying after Tuesday’s election, with mixed results. From a panel discussion on CNN last night: Voters want “normal.” That’s accessible ballot boxes, drama-free vote counts, and candidates who concede when they lose.

Have a good weekend.