It is a standard campaign tradition to prepare two speeches for election night, one in case of victory, one in case of defeat. There is a classic scene in The War Room where James Carville riffs on what the tone of the concession speech should be if Clinton loses the '92 election.

There is little doubt which speech McCain will give tonight. I do not know who has written the speech for him, but I offer up a few ideas:

 

Biltmore Resort, Arizona, 11:00pm EST-
Thank you, thank you. My friends, moments ago, I called Senator Obama and congratulated him on a hard fought victory (scattered boos from the crowd). I pledged to him my assistance as he goes on to lead the greatest country in the world, the USA. I urge all of you, my loyal supporters, to support President-elect Obama, as he is our President now. You know, Barry Goldwater once said: “It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president... except me.”
I want to thank my lovely wife, my family, my dear friends who supported me at great cost to their political lives, thank you Joe Liebermann. I want to thank my fellow maverick, Sarah Palin, for bringing her energy and enthusiasm to our campaign. Thank you to all who worked tirelessly for this campaign going back to those cold snowy days in New Hampshire.
Now, my friends, I want to say a few words about the tone of this campaign and what Senator Obama's victory means. This campaign was not the campaign I wanted to run, it wasn't true to who I am, John McCain, maverick war veteran and champion of 'straight talk'. This campaign was the last campaign of the George W. Bush era of the Republican Party. A party so damaged by the leadership of President Bush that we couldn't even send him out to rally the base.
Americans has resoundingly said NO to the politics and policies of the Bush-Rove Era.
My party, the GOP, is the party of Reagan, the party of fiscal restraint and conservative values. Frankly these last eight years bear little resemblance to the Republican Party of my heroes, Reagan and Goldwater, proud son of Arizona and founder of conservatism.
And so, I renew myself today, to lead my party back to the core of our beliefs and success, low taxes, encouraging small business, and fiscal conservatism with YOUR money.
I call upon our young leaders in the Republican Party to focus during these next two years, on our core beliefs and how we can best present them to the American people. Tonight, the Bush years officially come to a close. How will we define the alternative to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid politics that will now be a reality?
Ronald Reagan once said:
"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known." I call upon that next generation. You have our opportunity now, to restore America.
God bless all of you, and God bless the United States of America.