Loopy Logic

By: Mr. Wilson on October 23, 2006

Sometimes I wonder if the Journal Star editors really think about their editorials before they put pen to paper. Consider the opening paragraph of today's editorial:

Gov. Dave Heineman showed that he could accomplish the improbable when he made up a 40-point deficit to win the Republican gubernatorial primary. That augurs well for his performance in a full term as governor.

To recap: Dave Heineman is a good politician. Therefore, Dave Heineman will make an excellent full-term governor. I don't follow. The politician theme continues as the editors describe Heineman as "a politician who positions himself carefully" to manipulate situations "to his political advantage", and he is "the sort of politician" who "has a network" consisting "of contacts he has made over the years." Frankly, I don't think Nebraskans want to or ought to choose their governor based on his political savvy. Political skill gets one elected, and it gets one advanced through the party hierarchy; it has little to do with one's fitness for the governorship, or any other public role. I have no doubt the Journal Star editors more or less agree with me (based on earlier editorials I'm too lazy to go look for right now). So why make "he's a good politician" a cornerstone of their rationale for electing Heineman?

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Dave K

October 23, 2006 at 4:27AM

As I’ve previously said, their editorials are a joke. I try not to read them. Their endorsement of Bush in 2004 listed how terrible of a president he’s been, but then endorsed him because he ‘deserves a second term’. Hmmmm.

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