Editorial: Pass/fail

The Daily Wildcat puts the issues to the test. Do they make the grade?

District 2 race finally ends, Barber wins

Democrat Ron Barber beat out Republican Martha McSally for a full term representing Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. It sure took long enough to count.

The race was especially close, with Barber and McSally alternately leading — sometimes with a difference of just a few dozen votes — since election night. At one point, officials estimated that the count would go on for several more days.

But by late Friday, Barber had a 1,402-vote margin with more than 285,000 votes cast. An AP analysis found Barber’s lead could not be overcome.

With the redrawing of district lines, the district was a definite swing district and winnable by either party.

McSally, an Air Force veteran, was making her first run for political office against a well-known candidate with strong ties to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. It was a tight race, and her impressively close finish wins McSally a pass.

Romney concedes defeat graciously, says no one ever

There’s nothing graceful about former presidential candidate and Republican Mitt Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor first came under fire Wednesday for telling donors that President Barack Obama won the election because he gave “gifts” to minorities, women and young voters. Audio of the comments leaked late last week, and the full context doesn’t help Romney out.

In one excerpt, Romney said, “It’s a proven political strategy, which is give a bunch of money to a group and, guess what, they’ll vote for you. What I would do if I were a Democrat running four years from now — I’d say dental care ought to be included in Obamacare.”

It’s hard to believe Romney’s comments could be even worse than what was initially reported, but somehow they are. We’re not sure what huge tax cuts for corporations qualify as (gifts, maybe, to wealthy voters?), but there’s an undeniable lack of awareness in the audio clips.

Romney is frequently awkward. But this is just bad. For being unable to lose graciously, Romney gets a fail.

Snack enthusiasts panic as Twinkie-maker closes

The cost of Twinkies is rising as opportunists began selling the snack cakes on eBay and Craigslist for — in some cases — thousands of dollars this weekend.

Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands recently announced plans to close and sell its assets at an auction. Shortly afterward, grocery stores reported jumps in Hostess product sales as customers were struck with nostalgia.

Some of the brands may live on through new buyers, company officials say, so that people can still get their fix of Twinkies, Ho Hos or Ding Dongs.

But the burst of affection for Hostess and its products gets an incomplete, as the possibility of the brands living on is little comfort to people who will be out of work when the company shuts its doors.

Yes, it’s kind of pretty funny that people are worried about the closing of a snack cake company. But the people who are losing their jobs have bigger concerns.

— Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat’s editorial board and written by one of it’s members. They are Bethany Barnes, Kristina Bui, Jason Krell and Alex Williams. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.