Are you a Republican candidate? Want to win lavish praise from the liberal media? Easy! Get into a cliff-hanging election result, and instead of fighting it out, concede gracefully to your Dem opponent.
As you'll see in the video clip, MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNN's New Day offered a perfect illustration of the phenomenon today. Both shows heaped praise on Republican Martha McSally for quickly and "gracefully" conceding to Dem Kyrsten Sinema in their Senate race in Arizona. In contrast, the two shows castigated Republican Rick Scott for fighting it out in Florida.
But wait a second: MSNBC/CNN's point was that the losers should gracefully concede. As Mika Brzezinski put it, "McSally put aside partisanship and personal ambition to give the people of her state what they need: a clear result that everyone can have confidence in."
So why would the two shows be attacking Scott? He was the election night winner! Shouldn't they be castigating apparent loser Andrew Gillum in Florida, who withdrew his concession? Gillum, along with Scott opponent Nelson, also the election night loser, are fiercely contesting the results there. Gillum and Scott have thrown the election into chaos and bitter division, leaving it to the tender mercies of the incompetent and corrupt Brenda Snipes in Broward County.
And in Georgia, losing Dem Stacey Abrams, instead of gracefully conceding, has filed yet another lawsuit.
So why aren't MSNBC and CNN calling on Gillum, Nelson and Abrams to do the right thing, a la McSally? Why aren't the networks lambasting those Dems for failing, in Mika's words, to put aside "personal ambition" and "set a great example for all of us" by conceding?
The answers are obvious: the MSM loves: a good Republican loser, and Dems who will fight it out to the last fraudulent ballot.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI [on MSNBC's Morning Joe]: In this election year when so many women won races, it is a woman who lost. Arizona Republican Martha McSally, you saw her right there, who is setting a far better example our daughters and sons than some of the GOP men who will likely win their races. Yesterday, McSally, a congresswoman and retired Air Force colonel, gracefully conceded in defeat to Democratic congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema for Arizona's U.S. Senate seat. Republicans in Washington urged McSally to continue to churn up conspiracy theories and contest the results, but McSally put aside partisanship and personal ambition to give the people of her state what they need: a clear result that everyone can have confidence in.Contrast that graceful behavior with the shameful rhetoric of Rick Scott in Florida. Who is in his own contested Senate race, throwing out baseless allegations of fraud and crime and trying to squelch a full and fair count of the vote. In defeat, McSally showed class and dignity, allowing voters of all stripes a chance to believe again in the character of our leaders and to have faith in our democratic system. Unlike the President, and Rick Scott, she puts America first and shows us all true character on one of the toughest nights of her life. What a great example, Joe, for all of us, as we get through this strange and difficult time.
. . .
FRANK BRUNI, New York Times [on CNN's New Day]: I think Martha McSally deserves a lot of credit for the way she conceded. Contrast the way she behaved over these days with the way Rick Scott, for example, has behaved. There was Donald Trump right out of the gate, was raising questions about fraud in Arizona based on absolutely nothing. The national Republican party was backing that up. Martha McSally didn't join that, and her concession speech with her dog beside her last night: that's what you want to see, you want to see people moving on and telling the country to come together and saying this is a process to be respected.
