Re: candidate endorsement quandary

["Philip Cook" <PCOOK@novell.uidaho.edu>]

I hope Vision2020 continues to accept messages of endorsement 
and non-endorsement of political candidates.  

Candidate questionnaires are great, but a candidate writes what 
she or he wants us to hear.  Other citizens who have worked with 
the candidates in other settings--neighbors, businesses, civic 
organizations, task forces, citizen commissions--provide a valuable 
perspective to me and, I assume, other voters.   

I may agree with every policy position a candidate takes, but if 
people who have actually worked with this person tell me he or she 
is unreliable and cantankerous, I may reconsider my support.  

When there are many qualified candidates and the differences 
between candidates on major issues appear to be small (my 
perspective on the most recent election), the insights into the 
personal and civic characteristics of a candidate that 
endorsements provide are all the more important.
   
Sure, people can write anything they want about a candidate, but 
the first thing I read in any candidate endorsement is who wrote it.  
If I know that person and/or respect her or his opinion, I'm more 
likely to consider the endorsement as valuable input into my voting 
decision.   

The delete key works fine for endorsements I don't want to read.

Philip Cook