Well, by now you must have seen Lisa Falkenberg’s piece on Democratic endorsements. OK–it’s out there.
Frustrated candidates are abuzz with reports of behind-the-scenes controversies and shenanigans ahead of next month’s primary, from a local Democratic club hitting up candidates for hefty donations to big-name elected officials throwing around their weight with their own endorsing group.
All of our Democratic candidates (well, most) have been running the gauntlet of Democratic clubs, Labor Unions, and other organizations to see who can win the most endorsements. DosCentavos.net did not have a gauntlet. As an individual voter who actually pays attention, I made my choices based on various factors: The ability to win in November and the candidates’ knowledge and respect of “new media” weighed heavily, beyond the usual factors.
When it comes to the other groups, I cannot really criticize. DC is now known as a vendor of political advertising (cheap advertising, at that!) that reaches political junkies and activists who more thank likely vote in a Primary. Did that tip my favorites? Of course not, since I’m known to have sold ads to folks in the same race and still endorsed one of them. That doesn’t stop the “other guy” from not having his name out there. That’s why they call it advertising. (And no, I did not send a “Now that I endorsed you, take out your wallet” e-mail.)
Now, as a political advisor which I try to keep separate from my blog (other than using DC as a tool to disseminate information on the campaigns I serve), I have had clients who were endorsed and who were not endorsed by all these clubs. As an advisor, I use the endorsement process as one of many benchmarks to determine a course of action for a campaign–that’s it. If an advisor (or candidate) solely uses endorsements to determine their chances, well, that would make them bad candidates (and advisors). It takes work, not just a club nod, to win.
I mean, a non-endorsed candidate can see it in many ways: Most of the Electeds in that club Falkenberg mentions supported Gene Locke for Mayor, and we all know that outcome. Still, in a Democratic Primary, these folks do wield a lot of influence, so, the end-result could be a little different, but nothing that cannot be overcome by a strong, busy campaign and candidate. And if someone did get the endorsement (any endorsement), then they can and should use it as best as they can.
HBAD seems to be suffering more from a lack of public relations, than anything else.
When asked about the section of election code that appears to ban such contributions to PACs, Pruitt said the H-BAD PAC is different from the H-BAD “club.”
“I feel if you’re worth your salt as a lawyer, you can figure it out,” he said.
Of course, the voters seldom see the inside stuff, so, when stuff like this comes out and questions are asked, well, it turns folks off–at least the ones paying attention. But did H-BAD do anything wrong by asking someone to contribute to an outreach effort? Whether I agree or not with some of their endorsements, I don’t think they did anything wrong.
And that’s the thing. Accusations of “backrooms” and “old boys” don’t get you much when the 50,000 others who might vote in our primary don’t hear about that sort of stuff like some of us entrenched Party folks, unless it comes out in some sordid description in an article. We need more Democrats voting in the Primary, and the negativity just does not help any cause.
So, the Party gets a jab from the media this week. Big deal. Falkenberg has as much access to the Ethics Commission website as I do, and one will find how money works its way through the political system–in the worst ways, at that. Club endorsements (and their outreach efforts) are just one way to get out the vote.
To all the candidates who did not get endorsed: Keep moving forward. These nods are not the end-all solution to winning. I give you the best example of a low-funded candidate who did not get all the club nods: JUDGE Larry Weiman.
Si Se Puede!
Disclaimer: I chose to belong to two local clubs who do not endorse, since our job as Democratic clubs should be to increase Primary voting and competition, rather than simply choosing one candidate and suppressing the vote, as if a club is some sort of kingmaker.
