Has the New York Times Come to its Senses?

Has the New York Times Come to its Senses? – No. On first reading the NYT’s editorial this morning on the Torricelli affair it appears the editors have discovered the virtues of competition. “The guiding principle,” they write, “should be the voters’ basic right to a genuine election.” But that appearance is misleading. What the Times really wants is for the courts to step in and protect some of the voters — the Democrats who made the bad choice of selecting Torricelli as their nominee — from the consequences of their decision. More precious to the Times than competition is protecting people from the unwanted results of competition.

There are, the Times acknowledges, some petty obstacles, like statutes, that stand in the way of doing what should be done, but apparently only pea-brained Republicans worry about little things like that, for “legal wrangling” should not undermine the right of New Jersey voters to “a competitive race.”

Now that the Times has discovered, just in the nick of time, a shiny new previously unknown right — to “a competitive race — it will be entertaining to observe their comments on the other races this fall, inasmuch as roughly 90% of the voters live in House districts that are by no stretch of the imagination competitive. Are their rights being violated? Is gerrymandering illegal? Inquiring minds want to know.

Say What?