The Republic is no longer going to endorse candidates.
Phil Boas and Greg Burton have crafted a lofty piece about their decision, but there's a hint at the real answer in this paragraph.
The Republic angered a lot of our readers with that endorsement, but we never backed down. We stand by it today. However, we also know we will never see the likes of that moment again. Our 2016 endorsement was astonishing because it broke with those 126 years of history and made us national and international news.
Here's an example of that coverage.
Boas and Burton are never Trumpers. Endorsing Trump now would be a concession that the Republic editorial board's 2016 decision was wrong. And they can't endorse Bernie or the ultimate nominee because they are....well, you insert an adjective here--crazy, socialist whatever. I would argue that the case for Trump is better than it was in 2016 and the case for the Democratic nominee is worse than it was in 2016. So from a public policy perspective, the paper should endorse Trump.
However, while the REPUBLIC should endorse Trump. PHIL BOAS can't reverse his previous position.
So Boas and Burton are abandoning endorsements all together.
This is a great example of people running a business to meet THEIR needs instead of the businesses needs. Boas has no ability to back down and he is willing to drastically diminish the power of his paper instead of facing the personal embarrassment of switching positions.
This is a classic governance problem. In any institution, top management will eventually get so invested in their own prior decisions that they are willing to tank the entire organization in order to maintain consistency. That's why companies that change directions have to change the upper management.
The Republic could continue endorsing candidates. In fact the endorsement would be easy to write....we don't like Trump's character or his Tweets and we are absolutely opposed to his hard-line stance on immigration. And while we believe his negotiating style is too abrasive, his economic and foreign policy initiatives have been surprisingly successful. Meanwhile, the current Democratic field has lurched so far left that we can't in good conscience support any of them. Therefore, we are endorsing Trump.
See, that's not so difficult. The Republic could write that. However, PHIL BOAS can't write that. He is too personally invested in his 2016 Clinton endorsement and is incapable of making any endorsements that would undercut the rationale of that decision.
So rather than change positions or retire early, Boas and Burton abandoned endorsements altogether.
The Republic may not be around much longer...but Boas and Burton will be there until the end.