<Silenced Groups

If it were in effect today, the New Jersey Sierra Club couldn't inform voters about replacement candidate Frank Lautenberg's environmental platform. The National Taxpayers Union couldn't tell New Jersey voters about Lautenberg's record on tax legislation. And the state chamber of commerce would have to sit in silence about the new candidate's business record.





Hmm-m...

The voters would be informed that Torricelli was losing, and would not be told of the Lautenberg replacement. The change would actually become the tennate of the media. A Democratic-bent media base could report the change, and continuously up until election day, claiming the change to be newsworthy, while at the same time ducking the stated issues. A Republican-bent media base, on the other hand, would not necessarily announce Lautenberg as a viable opponent, leaving that honor to its Democratic competitor. Once the cat was out of the bag, though, it could lambaste all it wanted -- but to an audience that was likely Republican anyway.

Whatever, the results remain skewed -- particularly since local media sources generally buy-out local competitors, making a town’s editorial page a largely one-sided column.

Excellent piece, Tom,
Dan