March 22, 2026

The conduct of a losing party never appears right: at least it can never possess the only infallible criterion of wisdom to vulgar judgements—success. Let me put that more simply: To too many people, the party that loses an election must be made up of “losers”–a nasty label to attach to anyone, but perhaps understandable in the circumstances. And conversely, the victorious side must be made up of “winners”—a label not a lot of people deserve.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Irish-born British Whig politician. Letter to a member of the French National Assembly (1791), in Jay, p. 67

MEDITATION: Which do you prefer? To be right on all of the issues that dominate an election campaign, but lose the election? Or win, though you know your party’s platform, its manifesto, is just a lot of hot air?

COMMENTARY: This is the fundamental irony of politics—assuming one is in it for the right reasons; that is, to do good. One must sometimes suffer defeat at the hands of those who think they are up to the job, but aren’t, and will surely make a mess of things.