The New Jersey Star-Ledger said they made a mistake with their endorsement of Gov. Chris Christie, the state's scandal-mired Republican governor, during his reelection bed last year, CNN reported.
"We blew this one," the paper's editorial page editor, Tom Moran, wrote about the decision to endorse Christie despite their deep reservations over his aggressive style of governing now that his involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal has come to light, according to CNN.
"An endorsement is not a love embrace. It is a choice between two flawed human beings. And the winner is often the less bad option," Moran wrote, according to CNN.
"Yes, we knew Christie was a bully. But we didn't know his crew was crazy enough to put people's lives at risk in Fort Lee as a means to pressure the mayor. We didn't know he would use Hurricane Sandy aid as a political slush fund," Moran continued.
"And we certainly didn't know that Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer was sitting on a credible charge of extortion by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno," a reference to other allegations against Christie that have emerged since the scandal first came to light, according to CNN.
When the paper gave their endorsement in late October, they cited "a deeply flawed candidate" in Christie's opponent, State Sen. Barbara Buono, and said they were endorsing Christie "despite the deep reservations," CNN reported.
The paper said some of these reservations included how he refused to meet with them, his backing of rising property taxes and a "hostile" attitude toward low-income families, according to CNN.
In the apology article, Moran wrote that the paper opted not to skip making an endorsement, as the New York Times did, because, "voters have to push one button or the other, and we felt The Star-Ledger should belly up to the challenge and offer them our best advice," CNN reported.
"This has become a major distraction for him and his team," David Gergen, a political analyst who served as a White House adviser to four presidents, told the Associated Press, "They are having to fight back on various fronts."
The state's Democrats are feeling emboldened, and the Senate Judiciary Committee has indefinitely postponed a confirmation hearing on Christie's chief of staff Kevin O'Dowd who is a nominee for state attorney general, the AP wrote.
"At the risk of repeating a mistake, I'd pick Christie in that primary, even now. And if you think that makes some sense, then you understand how excruciating the endorsement process can be," Moran said, CNN reported.
