The Albany Times Union, on this evening before Election Day, has reversed its Oct. 31/Nov. 1 endorsement of state Sen. Jim Tedisco. Don't bother trying to look the old editorial up online. The relevant section has been excised and replaced by Orwellian newspeak: "We have rescinded our endorsement of Republican Sen. Jim Tedisco and endorsed Democrat Michelle Ostrelich. An editorial on this decision can be found here."
While the new editorial is full of praise for Ostrelich, who would allegedly "make a fine state senator", the one from a few days ago, now consigned by the TU to cyber-nonexistence, just says she "comes to the race with strong progressive positions but limited experience in government."
The actual sole reason for the switcheroo, as the tendentious new editorial concedes, is abortion, i.e. the story broken yesterday by New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and PlanetAlbany, and by no one else up to now as far as I know, including the out-to-lunch TU news department (not known for objective reporting on this issue). The TU editorial does not mention either of these sources by name, never mind linking to them, only referring to the former as "an anti-choice political action committee". (Whereas I cited it, named it, linked to it, and called it "socially conservative" yesterday.)
The language is telling. It would be gracious to call each side their name of preference, i.e. pro-choice and pro-life, or at least use a neutral term like socially conservative. The TU extends no such courtesy to those non-persons who dissent from the party line and are guilty of thoughtcrime on this the newspaper's paramount issue.
I guess I'm going to have to go the polls after all to vote for Tedisco.
Update: Here, via NYCF, is a statement from Tedisco: “I was proud to be endorsed by New York State Right to Life for this election and have had a consistent pro-life voting record and continue to be a champion for protecting the sanctity of life, and that has not changed, and never will. Clearly, there was a misunderstanding of my views on the sanctity of life but if standing up for what I believe costs me a newspaper endorsement, then so be it. I am pro-life and proud of it. Meanwhile, I was proud to get a glowing endorsement by the Daily Gazette who hailed me as a ‘scrappy and effective state Senator.’ I’m proud to have run a 100 percent positive campaign talking about being a strong voice on the issues that matter most to the voters of the 49th Senate District. I firmly believe on Election Day, the voters of the 49th Senate District will be smart enough to realize that.”
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