In the Right

Granted, tabloid newspapers have a bit more leeway to work with when it comes to headlines, taste-wise. Something the Gray Lady might reject might look perfectly at home at The New York Post.

In the flurry of emails, phone calls, Tweets, and Facebook conversations I've been a party to this afternoon, one headline story stands out -- but it's about a headline that never ran.

In 1987, there was an election in the Bronx for District Attorney. The incumbent was Mario Merola, and he had the lines (read: endorsements) of the Democratic, Republican, and Liberal Parties (a not as uncommon occurrence as non-New Yorkers might think).

Merola's lone opponent was Thomas Lavin, running on the Conservative Party line.

Six hours after the deadline to remove a name from the New York ballot had passed, Merola collapsed and dropped dead.

The law in New York at the time said that his name could not be removed from the ballot -- and that, if he won, the Governor would be empowered to name a replacement, who would serve until the next general election.

Based on the supposition that had he lived, Merola would have trounced Lavin, all four newspapers in New York City endorsed Merola's corpse against the living Lavin.

The night before the election, as news organizations were writing their election wrap-up pieces, reporters and editors started talking about possible headlines for the odd story of the dead Bronx D.A. who was running for reelection, and my friend came up with a winner:

"Conservative Faces Stiff Opposition in Bronx."

I wish to heck he'd been working at the time for the Post or the Daily News.

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