THE NEWS SAYS:

Lawmakers should pick Underwood already.

Six hours of Albany hearings in which 11 candidates presented their credentials to be interim attorney general have concluded. The dozen lawmakers leading the proceedings could have stopped after the first contender, Barbara Underwood.

Legislators offered bipartisan, bicameral praise for Underwood, who has served more than a decade as New York’s solicitor general, in charge of all appeals, and who has been acting AG since Eric Schneiderman imploded last week.

Also stating that Underwood was the unequivocal best choice to fill out the term until Dec. 31 were the other candidates for the job. One after another, they deemed her the ideal pick.

So, get it over with — and name a stellar, upright, no-nonsense, whip-smart lawyer who can keep the office running between now and the election, when the voters can make their choice.

Speaking of which: Wednesday, the first person threw her hat in the ring electorally: the city’s public advocate, Tish James.

Until a few days ago, James seemed happy to get the job via a legislative deal. Then, amidst a storm of criticism from this page and others about the risks of a bunch of pols giving one candidate the leg up of incumbency, she wisely backed out and chose to compete on a level playing field.

We encourage other serious contenders to jump in. A job this big demands a real contest.

Underwood repeatedly says she will not run. Still, it’s enticing to imagine a parallel universe in which an eminently qualified lawyer like her, who’s clerked in the Supreme Court, taught at Yale and been U.S. solicitor general, would be drafted by both parties as a nonpartisan professional, as urged by Sens. Phil Boyle and Tony Avella. Alas, we’ll have to settle for a politician.