A tale of two headlines

The BostonGlobe.com headline on Michael Levenson and Jim O’Sullivan’s front-page story about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman today is laugh-out-loud funny: “Steve Grossman hopes endorsements will pave the path to victory.”

Yes, like that works so well in the age of weak parties and relentless media campaigns. Indeed, Levenson and O’Sullivan provide plenty of evidence that Grossman is pursuing a dubious strategy.

In the print edition, though, the headline is strictly bland-on-bland: “Grossman campaign leans on local ties; Chasing Coakley, one handshake at a time.”

Now, I realize that the online headline wouldn’t fit into the available space in the print edition. But it seems to me they shouldn’t diverge that much. Both headlines are accurate with respect to the facts; but the Web version fits the tone of the story better.