After we published this editorial on the outrageous attempt by New York's liberal Republican congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava to intimidate the Weekly Standard's John McCormack, and after not one but two  attempts by the Scozzafava campaign to further smear the reporter, including one in which they all but accused the reporter of being a stalker by saying they had "no doubt he intended to follow her home, too," it turns out that the Associated Press has confirmed that an audio recording of the event totally confirms Mr. McCormack's version of it and proves that the Scozzafava campaign was being untruthful.

Forget the politics of this. Forget any questions of ideology or political philosophy. As a simple matter of protecting a free press, of showing proper mortification at any attmpt to use police power to intimidate an honest reporter, I believe that Dede Scozzafava ought to withdraw from her race. Just one opinion in defense of the First Amendment -- one opinion that I think is shared by many. Furthermore, all the Republican bigwigs who endorsed her and helped finance her, including the NRCC and the RNC and former speaker Newt Gingrich, ought to privately urge that she step down and, if she doesn't, they should publicly call on her to do so.  Police state tactics are inexcusable, and the media in general, along with all who cherish constitutional checks on abuse of the police power, ought to fight such tactics and defend fellow journalists/bloggers from them. Ms. Scozzafava should stand down.

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