Endorsement Madness

It is clear we are in the midst of political campaign season (right in the middle of the NCAA Tournament and the start of baseball season).  As one party’s race is far from decided, there’s news almost every day from the campaign trail.

For instance, almost daily, there’ll be media mention of endorsements of particular candidates. Today, we learn that Senator Bob Casey is endorsing Barack Obama for President. Earlier in the political season, Governor Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter pledged their support behind Hillary Clinton.  Not to be outdone, former First Lady Nancy Reagan just recently endorsed John McCain, instead of her fellow former First Lady. Democrat-turned-Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman also “crossed the aisle” to support McCain.

Endorsements have long been part of the political process.  “If a candidate is good enough for such-and-such political leader or celebrity, then he or she should be good enough for me,” the thinking goes.  The real question is do endorsements really matter to the individual voter?  While endorsements by a city or state’s top executive can help facilitate campaign events in those areas, and while union endorsements can sometimes provide “manpower” on Election Day, it ultimately still comes down to how an individual voter decides.

Even in Philadelphia, perhaps the ultimate union town, endorsements by unions have limited effect on the individual voter.  Before winning last year’s Democratic Primary, Nutter had the grand total of one union endorsement: Local 835 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.  People still decide to select a candidate on their own.  And that trend is somewhat refreshing.

The moral of the story: vote for the individual candidate and not because of who else supports or does not support him or her.  Who an athlete or celebrity or singer supports is good for them, but I still want to decide for myself.

The Importance of an Informed Presidential Election Voter

 

It’s no secret that Presidential Election years typically draw folks to be more interested in politics and the election process than other years.  This year, with the certainty of a new President, interest in the election is running rampant. 

As of today, our next President appears to be one of the three viable major party candidates.  There could even be an impact third party candidate.  With the upcoming choices that we will make, whether in the Pennsylvania primary in April or in the general election in November, it is important for young lawyers and young voters in general to be informed on the issues.  We should make sure we that we make informed decisions by knowing what the issues are and what the candidates stand for on them.  A lot of the typical news sites, such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, have comprehensive election coverage and information on each candidate’s position.  Locally, one particular organization, the Association of Young Americans, founded by a group of young lawyers and other young professionals from Philadelphia and across the country, seeks to provide non-partisan information and discourse about the election that is pertinent to young voters.    

Regardless of who we vote for, we need to go beyond the catch phrases of “Vote for Change” and make sure that we know why we’re voting for that candidate. 

Caring about Election Day

Tuesday is Election Day; it just doesn’t seem like it.  While the Philadelphia mayoral race generated significant headlines in the primary season, there has been a recent and notable distinct lack of media coverage about the race.  In fact, it seems that most of the recent election-related headlines in town have involved the 2008 Presidential primaries and general election. 

Maybe it’s because the perception is that the result of the mayoral race is a foregone conclusion.  Maybe it’s because the two major party candidates have behaved with such an unprecedented level of civility, agreed on many issues and avoided almost all negative campaigning, that the media doesn’t have many juicy campaign stories to report.  Factoring in the considerable challenges, such as reducing violent crime and lowering taxes, that the next mayor faces, it just seems that the media should be giving it much more attention, even if the stories seem boring compared to past elections. 

But there’s actually quite a bit at stake, beyond the mayoral race.  City Council seats are in play.  Judges are up for retention, and there’s been a group that is seeking to oust judges simply for accepting the 2005 pay raise. 

So the point is that young lawyers should care about this upcoming election.  Some of my non-lawyer friends wonder if we lawyers talk only about politics, government and legal cases in our spare time.  Obviously, we don’t.  But this upcoming election is something that we should be very aware of (if not necessarily discussing during lunchtime), and we should do our best to get out there and vote on Tuesday