The Herald’s ‘None of the Above’ Endorsement Is Such a Copout

Photo via iStock/Bruce Willey

Two weeks after the Globe endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the Herald has at last spoken up and endorsed…nobody.

“With all the great talent this nation has produced, the voters are left with a choice between two of the most distrusted presidential candidates ever to share space on one political ballot,” the Herald editorial board wrote Friday. “Fully two-thirds of American voters have said they distrust both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump. And frankly we can’t blame them.”

The non-endorsement follows the tabloid’s sterling 0-2 record through the battle royale Republican primary, backing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—currently boasting a record-low 21-percent approval rating in his home state—and later, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

And so, just like Gov. Charlie Baker, who has repeatedly said he will blank his ballot on November 8 after supporting Christie in the primary, the Herald is refusing to take a side in what ought to be the most important election in generations. Or, in the curious parlance of the Herald‘s own Howie Carr: “petrified of catching political Zika.”

“So these are our choices—which is why for the first time in decades the Boston Herald will not make an endorsement in the presidential contest,” the editorial goes on. “We urge our readers to look deep into their own consciences—as we will all have to do—and do the best they can.”

In other words, the same opinion page that’s taken great joy in needling longtime politicians like Sen. Ed Markey for his “present” votes—an “astonishing act of political cowardice,” to use its own words—is registering a big, fat one of its very own.