Perhaps nothing is more disrespectful to voters than political endorsements. By sending a slate card of “endorsed” candidates to your mailbox, party organizations and other groups are suggesting that you are too dumb to research candidates and choose for yourself whom to vote for—and that they somehow possess superior knowledge and are therefore qualified to instruct you on how to vote.
Chances are, the election of endorsed candidates will benefit the special interests of those who endorsed them a lot more than it will benefit you. That’s why endorsements almost always steer voters away from outsider citizen candidates like Mark Pukita, for U.S. Senate, or Jonah Schulz, for U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio District 7.
My suggestion: Go online. All candidates have websites. Check them out. Take note of which candidates have no argument to make other than touting the professional politicians and insider organizations who are endorsing them. To me, those are warning flags, not positives.
Ask questions. Email the candidates. Call them.
And when the slate cards arrive in your mailbox, drop them straight into the trash.
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