Wouldn't you know that "Cuckoo Ken" Cuccinelli was a pioneer of the Art of the Election Night No-Concession-Call?

Oh no, Cuckoo Ken's feelings were hurt?

by Ken

Am I the only one not to have noticed that the political concession speech is going the way of Judge Crater?

At least I have an excuse. Although there was a time in my life, a really long time, when I was an Election Night junkie, just couldn't get enough, in recent years -- no doubt in response to too many nights of emotional devastation -- I adopted a new strategy for Election Night: something close to a boycott. In a good year I manage to get through the entire night without peeking. (Hey, it's not as if the results are going to be kept secret!)

This inquiry by washingtonpost.com "Fix" reporter Sean Sullivan was clearly inspired by the recent concession-call-free primary defeat of Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray, the historical record takes us quickly back to one of the vilest pieces of filth to sully American politics (quite an achievement when you consider the quantity and vileness of the pieces of filth who've risen to the challenge), former Virginia AG "Cuckoo Ken" Cuccinelli, who performed the feat the night of his defeat by current Gov. Terry McAuliffe. He was, it appears, miffed by the McAuliffe campaign's suggestion that his opponent would try to restrict birth control. From which one concludes that Cuckoo Ken has never listened to the wingnutty insanity and personal filth that has emanated from his piehole throughout his career in public life.

Anyway, in case you missed it, here's the scoop (lotsa links onsite):

THE FIX

The death of the political concession call is upon us

By Sean Sullivan

It's the political equivalent of shaking hands at the end of the big game. But the concession call may be falling out of vogue more and more. Just ask D.C. Councilmember Muriel Bowser, who just won the Democratic nomination for mayor.

Briefing reporters Wednesday, Bowser said she still had not spoken with Mayor Vincent C. Gray, whom she defeated in Tuesday's primary. It's not the first time a runner-up has declined to make the congratulatory call to the winning candidate that has long been customary. You don't have to reach back far into history to find at least a pair of other high-profile candidates who refused to pick up the phone.

After losing to now-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) after a bruising 2013 campaign, Republican Ken Cuccinelli never made the call. Two weeks after the election, Cuccinelli still appeared to harbor negative feelings. He explained to The Washington Post that it was McAuliffe's conduct during the campaign that prompted him to buck tradition. The Republican pointed to claims that he would outlaw common forms of birth control which he said were false.

Hard feelings could also be felt a mile away in the 2012 Republican presidential primary. After wins in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida, eventual nominee Mitt Romney never heard from former speaker Newt Gingrich.

"The other candidates all called," Romney told NBC's "Today" at the time. "I guess Speaker Gingrich doesn’t have our phone number."

Ouch. Romney said he called to congratulate Gingrich after he won South Carolina. Ouch x 2. Gingrich's explanation for his silence? Romney didn't deserve a call.

A refusal to make nice is more notable after a primary than it is following a general election. The day after winning the party's nod, candidates need to unite their party behind them. Any signs of lingering rifts could threaten to undercut their standing heading into the general election and make them look weak.

It's not like the conversations that do happen mean all that much. As Mark Leibovich wrote in the New York Times in 2010, they are often superficial exchanges. But not going though the motions -- especially in the age of Twitter and other social media that have applied an extra layer of scrutiny on campaigns -- instantly threatens to open a candidate up to charges of sour grapes.

The concession call isn't going away overnight. None of the above examples would be notable unless the obligatory conversations still happened in the vast majority of cases.
But the next time a candidate loses a high stakes campaign, don't think they will automatically pick up the phone.

Lame-duck Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray is seen here not making a concession call.

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You Have To Know What's Wrong Before You Can Fix Something, And That May Be Just Hopeless

To be honest, I was kind of dreading it, but I knew I had to get to it sooner or later. I was asked to sign a release form for a couple of scenes I was in in a soon-to-be-released film about the band Ministry, Fix. I had asked to see a screener, and it had arrived and was sitting next to my computer unopened for nearly a week.

The director called and asked what I thought. So a few nights ago I stuck it on and... wow! I was shocked! It had taken over a decade to make, and... well, it was well worth the effort. It's the real thing-- the kind of no-holds-barred tell-all story that a band like the Rolling Stones can only wish they had the courage to have made. I expect to write more about the film as we get closer to release date (next year, I think). I'm only bringing it up now because I was reminded of one of my little scenes by a news story the following day about the IMF's economic forecasts, a steep drop in global output and a rebound "later this year."

Before I was a blogger, I was a president. I ran Reprise Records, a division of AOL-TimeWarner. One of my jobs was to do the kinds of projections that millions of businesses do that go into national and international forecasts like the dire IMF one linked above. I spoke about the forecasting in Fix.

A useless political hack from corporate headquarters-- a former hatchetman for New York Governor Hugh Carey who had been recruited by our corporation to do the dirty work involved in axing the failing Atari division of TimeWarner had done so well that he was rewarded with a sinecure, a make-believe job as the head of a nonentity, the Warner Music Group. Technically, he was my boss's boss. But before he was fired, he called me and started screaming because the projected new album by Ministry hadn't been delivered and he needed the 500,000 units.

Keep in mind that I had to project what the album would sell, not just before it was recorded, but before the songs were even written. The music business isn't like a show factory. But the new head of the Warner Music Group didn't know that and couldn't quite understand why it isn't. I tried explaining; he kept screaming. Finally I fessed up: The lead singer had been shooting smack for months and had to get into rehab before he could complete the album. Shock was followed by accusations. Why, he demanded, was I working with drug users? I was wondering why I was wasting my time on the phone with a clueless politician. I told him that all artists are drug users, that it helps their creativity, and that he would have to understand that if he planned a career in the music industry. He hung up on me, and fortunately was fired before he got around to firing me.

I suspect, though I have no way of knowing, that the projecting and forecasting that goes into putting together the numbers that the IMF--and, more important, Wall Street-- gets from shoe factories and car companies and investment firms are more conducive to reliable predictability than the multibillion-dollar entertainment industries'. It allows them to put out statements like this:

The global economy will contract sharply this year and recover only sluggishly in 2010, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday as it called on governments to sustain or even increase fiscal stimulus next year.

A lot goes into those forecasts: wishful thinking, cluelessness, all sorts of pressures, hopes for those mouthwatering bonuses you've been reading about lately, budgets, dreams. Science? Not so much, I suspect.