The Primary Concession Formula: No Surrender

The political concession speech is now a concession in name only.

After all, what is there to concede? Certainly not the rightness of one's ideas, or the superior efforts of one's supporters. Whether a candidate is staying in the race or dropping out, the concession speech is not a surrender but a call to arms.

"We head out west and the fight goes on," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday night -- with nary a word of congratulations to the three Democrats who'd placed ahead of him in the New Hampshire primary. A stranger to presidential politics would never know that he'd eked out only 5 percent of the vote, or that he'd wind up quitting the race just two days later:

"Thank you, New Hampshire, thank you for all you did for us!"

You're . . . welcome?

When the concession speech does congratulate the winner, it does so perfunctorily, usually in a few lines tucked into the beginning of the address -- the better to get them over with. The losing candidate may dryly state the obvious, as after Tuesday night's New Hampshire primary, when Barack Obama described Hillary Clinton's victory as "hard-fought," and Mitt Romney said John McCain "out-competed us." He might toss the victor a few kind words, like Obama saying Clinton did an "outstanding job." If the speaker is gracious, he might even ask for applause on behalf of his mortal enemy.

And then he moves on to the part of the message he hopes everyone will remember. The concession speech is really a retooled stump speech, in which the politician repeats all the themes of the candidacy (health care, security, whatever) and reminds the audience that the stakes couldn't be higher. Even those who are abandoning their quest for the presidency tend to revisit their mission and qualifications, as if to say, Yoo-hoo, America, take a look at what you're not getting! Like any stump speech, there is a formula, and rules to follow.

First, it is important to thank all the very nice people the candidate has met in [name of state]. As former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani put it doggedly after finishing fourth in New Hampshire, "We've made a lot of good friends here."

The candidate should note that his or her spirits are high!

"I am still fired up and ready to go," second-place finisher Obama said Tuesday night, paraphrasing one of his favorite stump lines.

Indeed, the candidate is focusing on the positive! For example, look how many people came out to vote -- albeit for other candidates.

"This is a great night for Democrats," Clinton said after her brutal third-place showing in the caucuses. "We have seen an unprecedented turnout here in Iowa."