tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post240383613143287195..comments2023-07-25T07:12:58.447-05:00Comments on John Deeth Blog: Reaching Out, Reaching InJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749260349116845928noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-65039411672915651652015-02-02T21:39:42.685-06:002015-02-02T21:39:42.685-06:00Endorsement isn't a question in a partisan ele...Endorsement isn't a question in a partisan election, because the primary decides.<br /><br />In some states (Minnesota is one) a party organization endorses, or decides not to, before a primary. And in some states a party convention helps determine who can even be on a ballot. Iowa doesn't do that.<br /><br />Again: I don't think the JCDems endorsement process is enough of a barrier to endorsement to need a separate side organization. <br /><br />Endorsements haven't failed because of the process; endorsements have failed because no one asks. That's why I put this out there, so that it's less obscure.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09749260349116845928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-20126425856745141932015-02-02T21:15:28.306-06:002015-02-02T21:15:28.306-06:00I think there's an easy work-around if the par...I think there's an easy work-around if the party committee members are willing. I posted about it <a href="http://ablogaboutschool.blogspot.com/2015/02/parties-can-and-should-endorse-in-local.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />I do think the words mean something, and apparently the people who want endorsements feel the same. I see no reason an endorsement should be harder to get in a local or "non-partisan" election than in any other election.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-58205177144600668332015-02-02T20:17:41.120-06:002015-02-02T20:17:41.120-06:00I was shocked to hear that "endorsements"...I was shocked to hear that "endorsements" were even an issue. That's why I wrote this. I got told "people want endorsements," I explained how.<br /><br />2/3 was a compromise. Some people wanted simple majority, others wanted no endorsements at all, so the idea is we want it to be a clear and strong consensus that we want to do thiis.<br /><br />I think someone like Royceanne or Kingsley could come before the central committee and get a fair shot at an endorsement. <br /><br />I don't see non-endorsement as an excuse, because it's been a few years since anyone has even ASKED for an endorsement for a city candidate. Of course, people might not know that you would need to ask. Endorsement is considered an extra-ordinary thing, not a routine thing, and people may not know that you need to ask. Part of why I wrote this.<br /><br />Remember, too, that the city elections are just three months before the scheduled caucus date, which means just two months before what will be the final real caucus date. That'll be a huge distraction. One problem that may be bigger than usual in our community: a lot of peopel are really caught up in national and even international issues, but don't get involved on purely local stuff.<br /> <br />One of the other issues is that, in many or most Iowa City elections, most or all of the candidates are registered Democrats. (See original post). Some people argued "we shouldn't endorse one registered Democrat over another." <br /><br />Also, in local elections the lines are not always as cut and dried as they are in partisan elections. People often have different views about what "liberal" or "progressive" means. (See my collected rants on 21 Bar, 2007 through 2013.) And as you know in school elections, geography matters as much or more than party. I think it would be impossible for any ICCSD candidate these days to get 2/3. (Can't remember if rules state we can only endorse registered Ds. I do know that an registered R would have no chance.)<br /><br />In a party primary, which in Johnson County is a local election, that gets settled by the voters rather than by endorsement. If the DINOs or even the crossover Republicans get out and nominate a moderate, that's the candidate.<br /><br />Also, personally, I don't think they matter much. Because without the headquarters infrastructure, which is not realistic for a city election, an endorsement is just words, and relatively empty words at that). Which makes the 2/3 relatively unimportant: empty words are even emptier if there's not at least strong sentiment behind them.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09749260349116845928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-53265712436515981172015-02-02T19:51:56.593-06:002015-02-02T19:51:56.593-06:00The scope of the post was just my own community an...The scope of the post was just my own community and just the Democratic Party. And a big chunk of the Democratic Party's "white power elite" supported Kingsley Botchway and Royceann Porter.<br /><br />https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView/county/Johnson/City_Candidate/Botchway%20II_Kingsley/2013-10-31__DR2_Summary.pdf<br /><br />https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView/county/Johnson/City_Candidate/Porter_Royceann/2013-10-31__DR2_Summary.pdf<br />Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09749260349116845928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-3827357101267599312015-02-02T18:53:45.343-06:002015-02-02T18:53:45.343-06:00Thanks for this post. I think it’s a shame that t...Thanks for this post. I think it’s a shame that the party has adopted rules that make endorsements in non-partisan elections so unlikely. As you point out, an endorsement in a local election is just a piece of information, but it’s one that at least some voters would appreciate. Why not take a stand? (And so why not make it easier for the local party to take a stand?)<br /><br />And why a 2/3 vote requirement? I assume there is no equivalent requirement in making endorsements for partisan offices.<br /><br />The state election laws just dictate that party identification won’t appear on the ballot in local elections. That’s not a determination that parties can’t endorse candidates (nor could it be, constitutionally), so why does anyone in the party choose to interpret it that way? And why substitute a state judgment for the party’s judgment anyway? Seems like just a convenient excuse for not getting involved.<br /><br />I hear you that the process for changing rules is cumbersome and time-consuming. And I don’t think we can know for sure who would benefit from any given rule change. But I can certainly understand why groups that want endorsements would feel unsupported by a party that has this kind of rule. It *is* a choice not to support those groups and their causes, whether that was its intention or not.<br /><br />At the very least it puts the party in an awkward spot when, in even-numbered years, it wants to call upon those groups to support its candidates.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061483.post-78075211669830347942015-02-02T12:32:44.238-06:002015-02-02T12:32:44.238-06:00The view that we have to keep the White Power Elit...The view that we have to keep the White Power Elite White is part of the problem.JSNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03375832068193947450noreply@blogger.com