The Newsroom

A caller wonders why we haven't jumped all over Esquire magazine's ranking of Joe Baca among the 10 worst Congressmen in the country.

Easy ... timing. Not to mention that the facts the magazine cited weren't altogether true.

This newspaper's editorial pages have taken the Rialto Democrat to task on any number of things. We've also endorsed him. We've likewise taken Redlands Republican Jerry Lewis to task, and as recently as this past week endorsed him. We do try to look at things from all sides.

What we're not going to do is publish "hit" pieces on any candidate in the days leading up to an election. You may recall the furor over the L.A. Times' ill-timed piece on Arnold Schwarzenegger within a week of his first election.

Our thinking applies to letters to the editor as well. Like most newspapers, we have a blackout period for campaign-related endorsement letters, the last of which will appear in the paper on Nov. 2 (Sunday). Letters that take aim at another candidate (as opposed to endorsement letters) will not appear after Oct. 30.

Some have longer blackout periods. One newspaper I'm aware of posts no campaign-related letters within three weeks of an election. That's excessive, in my mind, especially at a time when we should be encouraging more community discussion and increased voter participation.

As for the Baca ranking, look for a mention in one of George Watson's upcoming political notebooks.