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13
Jul 2010
Some thoughts on political endorsements
Posted by Scott Spielman
at 3:37 PM | Comments (1)
I was reminded of one of my pet peeves about the August primary this week: voters cannot split their tickets.
That means if you vote for a republican in one race, you can’t vote for a democrat in another or it will void out your ballot.
That’s one thing that needs to be addressed down the line—after some of the major problems facing our state are solved, of course. I’ve always advocated people over parties when it comes to voting—to me, straight party voting is almost as irresponsible as not voting at all.
On that note, this has been a difficult election cycle for me for a variety of reasons—the most recent of which materialized when I realized I would soon be moving on from this position. I’ve always looked at political endorsements as part of my job, and part of the role of a newspaper in general, but those who earn the endorsements—and, more to the point, those who don’t—tend to look at it differently. There are still would-be politicians out there as well as those who were elected into office, that still hold a grudge simply because I believed someone else would do a better job and put that thought into print.
So how, then, to address this issue this year without making it harder for my eventual successor?
The obvious answer is to trust those involved to realized that different people have different ideas and what I write one month doesn’t necessarily reflect what someone else will write a few months down the road. But I still get accused of following the philosophy of some of my predecessors—in a non-flattering way, I assure you—so I know that that kind of touchy-feely sentiment isn’t all that common.
I think the best way to address it is to explain the thought process. It’s pretty simple. We pick who we think should win, not who we think will win. We’ve picked republicans for democratic communities, and vice versa. We’ve picked newcomers over seasoned incumbents because we haven’t been happy with the job those who have held any particular office has done. And yes, we still expect them to answer a phone call or shake an offered hand. (If not, they tend to look sillier than we do, anyway).
I’m not suggesting everyone take what we say and vote that way. Many candidates are promoting the endorsements they receive. Take a look at all of them. Decide whether they represent the ability of the candidate to do the job. Then vote your conscience. Things’ll work out and nobody will get their feelings hurt in the meantime.
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