Incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, who lost her bid for re-election in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District last week by a convincing 12-point margin, has so far still not conceded to Democrat Betsy Markey — and the national media is starting to take notice.
Monday night MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow called out Musgrave for her ungracious behavior and had a member of her staff call the loser’s office for comment. When her producer asked about a story saying Musgrave hadn’t yet conceded, “the person on the phone responded by hanging up on him,” Maddow told viewers during the Ms. Information segment on her show.
“Which tells us,” Maddow said, “Betsy Markey deserved to win that race on manners alone.” Let’s watch:
For the record, neither Musgrave’s campaign nor her congressional office has ever returned a telephone inquiry from this blogger.
Of course it’s just a polite formality for losing candidates to concede the election and congratulate winners — it has no actual effect on the results. But the sulking Musgrave, who hasn’t appeared in public since the polls closed on Election Day, is still drawing a salary from taxpayers and still represents her district until Markey gets sworn in two months from now.
Markey may not mind if Musgrave never concedes, but Musgrave’s constituents might hope she hasn’t gone completely AWOL, especially if Congress reconvenes later this month to consider an emergency stimulus package for the economy. A day or two to absorb a thumping from the voters is one thing, but the days are ticking by and stand now at nine.
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