From time to time I am asked to endorse a local candidate, perhaps write a letter to the editor, sign an endorsement petition, or otherwise signal my support for a candidate. Thus far I have chosen not to do so.
My reasoning, which I am now openly questioning, is that I endorse ideas, not people. Well that is all well and good, but we elect people, not ideas.
I also want to feel free to challenge all of our elected officials, even those that I generally support. Perhaps I would be hesitant to publicly disagree with an elected official that I had previously endorsed. Then again, I am generally not all that reluctant to criticize, so that is perhaps a weak argument.
Please feel free to weigh in on my issue, tell me to get over myself or whatever, within reason, of course.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Denis, get over yourself ;^) There's an upside to this you're overlooking - if you endorse or support a candidate, if/when they're elected, they're more likely to listen a little more intently to your criticisms. Maybe the system shouldn't work that way, but reality check - it does - just human nature.
Denis:
I agree with you about ideas over people. If someone else who shared my ideas stepped up to run, I would step aside, wish them well and be their biggest supporter. Running for office, for me, is not about ego, and, quite frankly, there are things I'd rather be doing with a week of my vacation time and most of my weekends from December to April this year than slogging through the snow knocking on doors.
Realistically, some people are never going to line up behind the ideas you support. On the other hand, some of us will, because we share those ideas, and in those cases there is a clear distinction between the candidates.
-Lou D'Abbraccio
Lou4Racine.com
Post a Comment