Waiting for Kerry

When will he concede? It's clear that Kerry has lost the election. The pressure on him not to concede--and to fight until his last legal recourse is exhausted--must be enormous. The Democratic party was breathlessly desperate to win this election. And in 2000, Al Gore set a precedent for attempting to settle the election through extra-electoral means.

But there are differences. Gore won the popular vote; Kerry did not. Gore was within fractions of a percentage point in several states; Kerry's margin of defeat in the key states is reasonably decisive.

Would Kerry or the Democrats pay a price for holding out? Perhaps. Doing so two elections in a row might cement their image as the party of sore losers. The benefit: At this point, holding out is the only emotional satisfaction Kerry has to offer his most rabidly partisan supporters.

There is a bigger picture. The Democratic party has been sick for the last two years. It turned aside men like Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman in favor of radicals like Howard Dean. Anti-American extremists like Michael Moore and the International ANSWER crowd have infiltrated the party.

If Kerry can reach down deep, he could do one last service for the Democrats: Break the fever. If Kerry graciously and promptly concedes, reaches out to Bush, and reaffirms that our true enemies are the Islamist monsters committed to the destruction of Western civilization, he could help push the Democrats out of the fever swamp and back into the mainstream. He could position Democrats so that their political interests no longer run counter to American success in Iraq and the war on terror.

If Kerry can muster the fortitude to do this, he will go a long way towards helping Democrats become a competitive party again. Which would be good for all of America.