Since the New York Observer has anointed me as an expert on New York Times endorsements, I feel compelled to point out what’s wrong with these comments in Tuesday’s New York.
First, not even New York City Democrats listen to what New York Times editorials tell them to do. The Times endorsed three candidates in closely contested races: David Yassky in a Brooklyn congressional race; Ken Diamondstone in a race to represent a Brooklyn district in the state Senate; and Mark Green in the race for attorney general. All three candidates — Yassky, Diamondstone, and Green — lost. The New York Observer ran a 2,000-word article last year claiming that "It’s a given among the city’s political classes that an endorsement from The Times in a race for City Council, the State Legislature or a judgeship is tantamount to election in affluent, Times-reading neighborhoods." Not anymore.
http://www.nysun.com/article/39696
Now the quote from the Observer was not from my column but Tuesday’s Primary results do not mean that it’s not true. The Sun seems to ignore the last 4 words in the Observer’s comments – in affluent, Times-reading neighborhoods. I have not yet seen results by election district but the overall numbers seem to me to make it likely that Yassky, Diamondstone and Green actually did win in those neighborhoods. However, those neighborhoods were not the only ones voting on Tuesday.