Supporters of Assemblyman Jeffrey Klein in the race for state Senate in the Bronx have been distributing campaign literature with a quote from the July 9, 2004, New York Sun. The quote on the campaign flier says, “It [is] time for Democrats to win back the 34th District, which has been under Republican control for the last 35 years.”

Here’s the actual quote, which is from a news article in the July 9 Sun: “Mr. Klein said it was time for Democrats to win back the 34th District, which has been under Republican control for the last 35 years.”

Catch the difference? One quote misleadingly makes it sound as if it’s The New York Sun’s position that the Democrats should take the Bronx seat. The other simply reports a Democratic candidate’s campaign pitch.

Mr. Klein’s campaign manager, Deirdre Schifeling, whom we reached over the weekend, acknowledged that the partial quotation was misleading. “We wouldn’t have put that out,” she said, noting that many groups were distributing literature in the race. The flyers were labeled as coming from “Fieldston Residents for Jeff Klein” and “North Riverdale Residents for Jeff Klein.” They included Mr. Klein’s campaign office phone number.

In an editorial Friday, we said that the best outcome in Tuesday’s primary would be for Mr. Klein to win the Democratic nomination, for Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman to win the Republican, and for John Fleming to win the Conservative Party nod.

The campaign shows more and more why the Democratic Party is not the institution we’re expecting to be the cockpit of reform.