By Rex Reed 10:23am

theater

McCormack and Larroquette. (Joan Marcus)

The Best Man: Everybody Knows Politics Is a Contact Sport

“May the best man win” is a phrase repeated so often in The Best Man, Gore Vidal’s scathing 1960 play about ethics in politics, that you know from the opening pistol at the starting gate that the best man will go down in flames by the end of Act III. In Michael Wilson’s deftly directed but unevenly acted new Broadway revival at the Gerald Schoenfeld, the play is still riveting and the backstage issues about the name-calling ruthlessness and back-stabbing corruption of dirty American political campaigns are, in light of the vulgar and wretched ferocity on display in this election year, still relevant. It’s an intelligent and pulsating evening in the theater, but unfortunately I could not avoid the nagging feeling that I was watching something too idealistic and old-fashioned to be true. There hasn’t been a candidate for presidential nomination this moral, unselfish and democratic since John F. Kennedy.  Read More

By The Editors 11/22/11 10:26am

opinion

Albany’s Map Quest

Will there be fair and competitive elections next year in New York?

Governor Cuomo promised, in essence, that there would be. During his successful campaign in 2010, Mr. Cuomo said he would fight for the creation of an independent commission that would be given power to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional districts, a process that unfolds every 10 years. Traditionally, both houses of the Legislature handle this task, and critics have charged that the legislators draw maps that insulate incumbents from serious challenges. Congressional incumbents and state legislators rarely are turned out of office in New York, the result, critics say, of unfair district maps.

Not surprisingly, legislative leaders haven’t jumped at the opportunity to turn over their map-making power to an independent commission. The result is a stalemate between Mr. Cuomo, who is attempting to make good on his promise, and both parties in the Legislature. Republicans and Democrats may not agree on everything, but leaders of both parties are of one mind when it comes to protecting incumbents. Read More

By The Editors 11/01/11 6:59pm

opinion

Liu, With No Choice, Makes a Good One

City Comptroller John Liu really had no choice. Faced with serious questions about his campaign fund-raising, Mr. Liu backtracked from his position that an inquiry could be handled in-house. Instead, under mounting public criticism, Mr. Liu asked former State Attorney General Robert Abrams to conduct an independent audit of his campaign’s books.

Good move. And good choice. Mr. Abrams, who served as A.G. from 1979 to 1993, has an impeccable reputation and would seem to have no ax to grind.

What remains uncertain, however, is whether Mr. Abrams will have the resources—in terms of a budget and personnel—to conduct a thorough investigation of Mr. Liu’s tangled campaign finances. Read More