Well, It IS A Concession, But...

By now we all know that failed GOP gubernatorial Doug Mastriano has conceded.

But look closely at how he does it and what he says when he does it.

Take a close look at paragraph Five:

Pennsylvania is in great need of election reform. As I write this, the final results of the 2022 Mid-term Elections are still not available. We can and must do better to make our elections more transparent, secure and more quickly decided. Pennsylvanians deserve to have faith in our elections. In my role as a State Senator, I will do my very best to help Josh Shapiro deliver that to Pennsylvanians and, if he does, I will be the first to acknowledge and applaud his achievement.

Let me get one chunk of Doug's dishonestly out of the way early.

Second and third sentences:

As I write this, the final results of the 2022 Mid-term Elections are still not available. We can and must do better to make our elections more transparent, secure and more quickly decided.

As a member of the state legislature knows full well that it's the law that the counting has to take as long as it does. Doug Mastriano knows full well that the state legislature could have changed this. The mail-in and early ballots, for example, could have been counted as they arrived if only the law allowed.

And yet while he's telling his followers that it's part of the system that still must be changed for them to regain their faith in the system, he knows full well that the GOP dominated state legislature could have changed it, but chose not to.

But the bigger question here is: How do you think the words in Doug's fifth paragraph will land in the ears of Doug's many followers? Those whose faith in the system, for example, was degraded when they swallowed whole Doug's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen and that Pennsylvania's insecure voting system was part of the cause?

After reading the above paragraph, how easy would it be for them to think that Doug's victory was also stolen but there's nothing he can do about it right now so he's doing what's right by conceding anyway?

When you've grasped that, you're hearing Doug's dog-whistle to the 2.2 million that voted for him.

Keep that in mind when you read what Doug wrong after thanking his voters he says:

This was indeed "The People's" movement. It's a movement that defied the odds, and it's a movement that will continue to defy the odds. It must.

But still it's a concession, I suppose.