Election endorsements

Do you remember the first time you voted in a presidential or other election? Was it for Nixon or Kennedy, Bush or Clinton? Are you old enough to have “liked Ike?” Or, did you become a “none of the above” voter and maybe voted for Eugene McCarthy, Ross Perot or Ralph Nader? Did you “recall” California Governor Gray Davis and vote for the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger? Who was the last person you supported for county supervisor, city council or the local school board?
How did you learn how to vote back when you were age 21 or 18? Who influenced you and how did you arrive at how you go about voting now? Are you a smart voter who does independent homework, or are you among the crowd of voters that hold their nose and vote for the lesser of two evils?
Voting, campaigns and elections just don’t seem as black and white as they used to be. Maybe that’s because our memories are all monochrome, too.
But how voters make their decisions, who they listen to, what they read, what sources they trust and what questions they want answered affects how our democracy marches forward. It may not be so simple anymore, with our election choices now colored in countless shades of gray areas, green money, red meat, white lies and black-hearted attacks. But American democracy is still the very best there is, by far.
There are a few constants voters can rely on for reliable information, fact-checking and well-informed opinions and endorsements.
Registered Democrats or Republicans will often follow the choices of their party leadership. Other voters will watch for official position statements from their favored liberal, conservative, tea party, environmentalist, labor union, libertarian or progressive political action groups.
Newspapers, big and small and including this one, publish endorsements and election editorials. Why are newspaper endorsements so powerful and sought after — even after all these years and in times of so much other media influences and internet noise?
It’s the job of journalists, newspapers and other news organizations to watchdog our government and who is elected to lead it. Only journalists spend countless hours tracking candidates, checking facts, researching history and connecting the dots between campaign dollars and candidates’ promises. Never perfectly objective, the best journalists still work hard at fairness, trust and full accountability. Everybody else has an agenda to push, an opponent to slam or a candidate to sell.
This newspaper does not make the same big endorsements as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. But, then again, those newspapers don’t know a thing about our local schools, county leadership or sales tax questions.
We do not endorse individual candidates but we do try to inform all voters about all the job qualifications and the important issues facing any newly elected official. We put a rigid focus on local tax issues, consistently demanding local governments fully justify any levy increases or spending plans.
Voters can look in this space over the next few weeks for more election information, fact-checking and our opinions. With 17 statewide propositions on the ballot, multiple local sales tax questions and numerous local races, we will work to offer as much “black and white” analysis as space allows.
We commend all the men and women who have stepped forward to seek public office and have their names appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. But all candidates are not equal and some are much more qualified than others. Voters should approach local elections like a job interview. After all, aren’t the voters supposed to be the real bosses who do the hiring?
Times were when we supported almost all local taxes for local services, schools and social programs. Not anymore. Too many local governments and public agencies lack proper auditing and haven’t accounted for current spending plans. We’ll explain more in future editorials.
Just remember any vote about affordable housing, marijuana use, growth controls, school bonds or parks and libraries is a vote about money. So we endorse a “follow the money” policy for all informed voters.
— Rollie Atkinson