Endorsement sentiments
It’s election season, when politicians begin endorsing one another and other candidates for office.
Nothing is wrong with personal endorsements; but any politician who makes an endorsement using their official elected title in order to influence an election, must rightfully be rebuffed.
If I proclaim an endorsement from an elected official to influence my reelection to Sebastopol City Council, I convey to the voters that that official’s vote is so important to me that they should vote for me accordingly.
If I use my title as an elected government official to endorse a candidate to influence their election, I convey to the voters a sense of entitlement whereby my vote is so important, that they should vote according to me.
Either way, official endorsements diminish the value of the common citizen’s vote.
It’s illegal for nonprofit members to use their title to endorse a political candidate. Rightfully, it should be illegal for members of an elected body to use their title to influence an election.
Every officer of the government may vote at election according to her or his conscience; but we betray the cause committed to our care when we permit the influence of official patronage to be used.
Michael Carnacchi
Sebastopol
