Back in the fall of 2013, I wrote a blog post critical of an endorsement editorial published by The Star-Ledger. The paper’s editorial, which backed Gov. Chris Christie for re-election, can be summed up this way: The governor sucks, but Barbara Buono sucks more, and, besides, we like his views on school reform.
My response was simple: Stop making endorsements. If you feel that you have to endorse someone who does not live up to your standards, then maybe you need to rethink the entire process.
Not everyone agreed with me. Some said the newspaper endorsement was a long and necessary tradition — one I used to subscribe to — while others said that we should reserve the practice for those cases when a choice was clear.
I’ve thought about this on and off since my 2013 post and have wondered whether I was too harsh. In the end, I don’t think so — and today’s odd, pre-endorsement endorsement on MyCentralJersey.com (home of The Courier-News and The Home News-Tribune) underscores my thinking. In it, MyCentralJersey.com essentially endorses a Republican Assemblyman without making an endorsement, pushing him to throw his hat in and saying he had qualities that would make him a good candidate. (The editorial also attacks the current redistricting rules as corrupt and overly partisan because the Legislature gets to pick the tie-breaking vote on the panel — which is not accurate. The 13th member is appointed by the Redistricting Commission if there are seven votes in favor of the appointment. If not, the state Supreme Court chooses.)
Here is what MyCentralJersey has to say about Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, the subject of today’s editorial. Bramnick, it says, “is a funny guy,” who wants to remind public officials that they “should lighten up a little in trying to get things done.”
MyCentralJersey calls that “a message public officials would do well to heed.”
Most New Jerseyans would love to find a politician they can laugh with rather than laugh at. That doesn’t mean treating the serious business of government and politics lightly. It does mean giving residents a sense that real people are in charge, people with an independent mind and a sense of humor and not just a collection of vaguely shady characters serving themselves and their benefactors instead of the public.
The governor would seem to fit the bill, but he
has turned out to be just as manipulative and abusive with his power as those of whom he had once been so critical. He earns points with the public for his own self-deprecating humor, but there’s a phony quality to it that’s been exposed by his thin-skinned arrogance and bullying nature.
Bramnick is different, the editorial says. He’s a politician, to be sure, but he “also spends a lot of time talking about humor and civility in politics, not exactly common topics among lawmakers.”
This, MyCentralJersey says, is of paramount concern. So, it goes on,
Here’s hoping Bramnick does indeed toss his hat into the gubernatorial ring for 2017. Maybe he can be what Christie has only pretended to be — a leader who can distance himself from the usual political nonsense and govern the state responsibly. We’d still like to think that’s possible. Hey, don’t laugh.
My point here has nothing to do with Bramnick. He may very well turn out to be the best candidate for the job. My criticism is with MyCentralJersey, which has complicated future endorsements. Imagine you are another Republican down the road who loses out on an MyCentralJersey endorsement to Bramnick; you could make the case that the fix was in before you even attended an editorial board meeting.
As I said last year, we should move away from the personal endorsement and focus more on laying out the issues that matter, telling the reader why and then explaining where the candidates stand. Essentially, we should frame the debate, but let the voters decide what is most important.
Send me an e-mail.
Hank Kalet 