Friday, October 27, 2006

Endorsement dilemmas

Political endorsements are one of the most interesting — and difficult — things we do in the Opinions Section at The Enterprise.

We do them because we want to help readers if they’re wavering on a particular race. Yet the process is not easy. We interview the candidates, usually in person but sometimes by telephone. That takes up a chunk of time. No matter how we decide, half the candidates will be angry with the outcome. It would be simpler to come up with some sanctimonious reason to stop doing endorsements, as big papers have done in other cities. We think our readers deserve that commitment from us.

This year, we endorsed 11 Republicans and four Democrats; so much for being part of the liberal media. At the state and congressional level, good Democratic candidates are hard to find. We couldn’t uncover any this time, and in some races we were looking hard for a reason not to back the GOP incumbent. Ironically, in Southeast Texas, strong Republican candidates — or even any kind of Republican candidates — are rare. Locally, however, the only Republican we backed was state Rep. Mike Hamilton.

Sometimes, it’s hard to decide between two good candidates — as in the race between Randy Shelton and Rick Williams for judge of the 279th District Court in Jefferson County.

Some races are slam dunks. The Democratic opponent of U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady is a flake, and his Web site proves it.

Sometimes, you have two candidates with drawbacks — the race between Mark Allen and Janet Cherry for Jasper County judge. In that race, we had to withdraw our initial backing of Cherry because we didn’t know about her back taxes. Ouch. We shifted to Allen even though he had a role in a post-hurricane spend-a-thon.

We aren’t naïve enough to think that we are kingmakers. Endorsements from a newspaper — or a union or chamber of commerce — probably help a candidate a little. That’s it. They don’t sway more than a few percentage points in the vote. Clearly, however, that can mean the difference in some races.

If we helped you decide a contest, that’s great. If you think we’re full of beans, that’s OK too.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You started your column stating political endorsements were difficult. After working and retiring from the P.A. News, I always felt it was WRONG for you to endorse any candidate. When surveys show over 90% of todays media is Liberal, you should not endorse anyone. It's your job to objectively report the news and candidates issues. NOT TELL US HOW TO VOTE! Mary Benson

8:48 AM  
Blogger Thomas Taschinger said...

I appreciate your comments, as it is always good to hear from our readers. I too have heard about surveys that say a vast majority of the media is liberal. Yet most of those surveys pertain to national outlets, what is called the MSM today, the mainstream media. Readers should remember that in this cycle, we endorsed 11 Republicans and four Democrats. That's almost a 3-1 margin in favor of Republicans.
I think newspapers help readers with endorsements. They aren't designed to tell people how to vote, just to give them information they may wish to consider in deciding some races. Many people don't have the time these days to research the races as much as they might want to. We do that on the candidates and issues and offer our perceptions to our readers. As always, they can take that into account or ignore it.

12:17 PM  
Blogger Ron Franscell said...

When I was the editor and publisher of my own small daily newspaper in Wyoming, we didn't do endorsements -- to the chagrin of many readers.

My newspaper was a small, 10,000-circulation paper in a community of about 25,000 people. To say that all candidates were known to most voters would be an understatement. And no politics are more personal than in a small town. In the end, we had to work closely with anyone who was elected, and an endorsement (which would likely be "old news" the minute it hit the streets) was less important than having a professional relationship with our government that was unsoiled by petty personal grudges that endorsements often cause. Face it, most politicians hold grudges and aren't shy about acting on them. (And after they were elected, we gave them plenty of grudge material!)

Instead, we aggressively editorialized about most of the issues in the elections. By Election Day, the newspaper's feelings about the issues -- and therefore the candidates -- would be clear to all readers. Our position on issues often would effectively reveal which candidates we felt were best for our community.

Alas, no practice is satisfactory to all readers. Many readers (and politicians) want endorsements to make choices easier (that is, to think less), and feel a newspaper is sissified if it doesn't do them. Other readers bridle at the appearance that a newspaper is trying to assert its imaginary power to sway an election unfairly.

A newspaper's job is to start conversations because -- in America anyway -- thoughtful conversations generally lead to some form of conclusion. Whether a newspaper starts conversations by endorsing candidates or by examining issues, it makes no difference. It is the conversation that matters most.

1:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Taschinger and other editors,

Just a note to tell you I have no complaint with your newspaper endorsement of my opponent.

I was promised 20 minutes to present my case on why I thought I was a candidate that the Enterprise could rally behind, and the spirited discussion we had went well beyond twice your offered time.

The exchanges were cordial, insightful, and most of all, honest. I left your conference room with no doubt that we had an understanding of what I wished to accomplish if elected, and how I would proceed to try and make those wishes reality.

Your were fair, and I have no complaint about the process, or the honesty exhibited when you chose to endorse a man more in line with your perceived vision of how the county should be run.

I hope when my re-election comes in four years, I am confident I will have the same chance to narrow the gap between our points of view.

Sincerely,

Billy Job

3:10 AM  

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