That’s what The New York Times‘ Adam Nossiter seems to be saying after Democrat Bill “Freezer” Jefferson lost to a Republican Vietnamese immigrant in the hurricane-delayed election in New Orleans:

The upset victory by the lawyer, Anh Cao, was thought by analysts to be the result of a strong turnout by white voters angered over federal corruption charges against Mr. Jefferson, a black Democrat who was counting on a loyal [read: black] base to return him to Congress for a 10th term….

In heavily white precincts, turnout was about 26 percent, while it was only about 12 percent in the heavily black precincts, said Greg Rigamer, a New Orleans demographer and analyst. …

But Mr. Rigamer also suggested that the corruption charges against Mr. Jefferson pushed whites to the polls in unusual numbers. “The bottom line,” he said, “is this is an issue-driven race that ignited turnout in the white community.”

Nossiter’s framing of this story seems to be saying that the ethics question was an artificial factor in the election, and it led to a black man’s loss. He also implies that blacks don’t care about ethics and whites do. Perhaps, Mr. Nossiter, black voters DO care about ethics, which is why many decided to stay home instead of vote for the corrupt Mr. Jefferson.

Also, where’s the celebration of an ethnic first? Don’t Vietnamese-Americans count with the media?