Sun editorial board must cover candidates equitably
Journalists must investigate the records of candidates for public office equitably. They must inform people on the track records and policy proposals of these candidates. Vet all candidates equitably, especially front-runners to be the next governor of Maryland.
While much about his opponents’ longer public lives remains to be uncovered, Mr. Moore’s record is only now being publicly vetted. His defenders are right: White candidates are often not vetted enough. Candidates, and especially first time candidates running for Maryland’s highest office, must be publicly vetted, but Mr. Moore should not be singled out for it excessively.
In turn, candidates should run on past results achieved and proposed future policies for improving people’s lives, not just on branded personas and polished resumes.
The recent Sun editorial on Wes Moore did a disservice to voters (“Wes Moore wasn’t born in Baltimore, but he’s long embraced it. We wish more political candidates would,” April 21). It failed to live up to the responsibility to vet all candidates for governor equitably, particularly important given The Sun’s recent apology for perpetuating racism and that Mr. Moore is the leading Black candidate in the campaign. Will the Sun publish editorials on other frontrunners?
It may have even failed its apparent unstated goal of softening an attack against its seemingly preferred candidate. Later in the campaign, Mr. Moore’s opponents will expose what The Sun obscured.
Throughout the editorial, overwhelmingly positive aspects of Mr. Moore’s biography were highlighted. For example, his internship for former Mayor Schmoke was cited. Omitted was his more recent work for the State Department during the Bush Administration.
Further, the piece noted he has lived in Baltimore the last decade without identifying his millionaires’ neighborhood. It listed local nonprofits he volunteered for, not the NYC-based “hedge fund titan”-founded charity he helmed for years. This is a highly selective portrayal.
The thesis of the editorial appeared to be: We’ve seen worse (we have), and he’s Baltimore’s candidate (we’ll know after Baltimoreans vote, not before). The real issue isn’t whether Mr. Moore’s waiting to correct untruths told about him (see this 2019 profile) until running for governor is disqualifying. It’s not. It’s that all candidates should be vetted equitably.
The Sun’s apparent pre-endorsement of Moore is a problem because it was premature and selective. It underestimated people’s intelligence and the wile of Mr. Moore’s opponents, just when voters are beginning to engage the finalized primary field.
Sunlight disinfects. If it throws shade, it is only to illuminate a figure stepping forward, not to obscure his path to the foreground.
Marylanders, after all, deserve a contest of ideas with light shed on each candidates’ capacity to implement them.
— Owen Silverman Andrews, Baltimore