Tom Moran has a theory (see today’s Star-Ledger)  regarding Sen. Teresa Ruiz’s ability to conduct an open, inclusive process in order to achieve consensus on the tenure reform bill (hold on: breaking news; get to that in a minute) and the Assembly Budget Committee’s inability to do anything intelligent or thorough with the Rutgers Camden reorganization.

Ruiz, Mr. Moran explains,  is a woman, therefore “thoughtful” and “cooperative.” She’s the inverse  of the Assemblymen on the Budget Committee or, for that matter, George Norcross and Chris Christie, who brim over with testosterone, are “reckless,” “aggressive,” and “once they’ve won a fight, they are both the sort to pump a few bullets into the cadaver just to make sure.”

Maybe I’m oversensitive to this, but doesn’t this theory strike you as a wee bit sexist? There’s nothing about Teresa Ruiz that suggests an absence of strength or conviction or the ability to hold her own in a rough-and-tumble.  Moran goes on to explain that when Ruiz “needed some muscle” to “get  the teachers union on board” she relied on Christie and David Tepper, “the billionaire who vowed to spend whatever it took to beat the union if it resisted.”

Moran is a great editorialist. Maybe he just needs to get out a little more.