With February’s primary election drawing near, people are making their political affiliations known and choosing sides in the contested races.
With the advent of lawn signs comes another innocuous campaign fixture, the letter of endorsement ultimately sent to local newspapers as a letter to the editor.
They usually go something like this: “Dear editor, I support CANDIDATE X for the position. She has been my neighbor for 25 years and is honest, sincere, intelligent and hardworking. Please vote for CANDIDATE X.”
Although it is heartening to hear that every politician running in the upcoming election is honest, sincere, intelligent, hardworking and has neighbors and co-workers who like them, letters like these do nothing to enlighten readers about actual issues and the candidate’s stance on the issues.
They are nothing but a whipped, fruity yogurt parfait, when what voters really need are meat and potatoes.
Sharing with people reasons why they should support a particular candidate is a very important part of the democratic process, especially for primary elections when taking the shortcut of voting along party lines is not possible.
For Illinois residents, it may seem like “honest” would and should be enough to get elected.
But, assuming the politicians are being honest when they claim to be honest, that still leaves voters with a responsibility to dig deeper and know something about the issues pertinent to each contested position and the candidate’s stance.
Letters to the editor are a great way to share hard facts about a candidate’s history and actions they have taken to directly address these issues.
Facts and clear examples of a candidate’s past behavior are the best indication and advertisement for what they will do if elected to the sought position.
This is what voters need to know. And this is what will ultimately engage people in a meaningful, issue-oriented debate, rather than a never-ending competition of who makes the best neighbor.
This newspaper encourages issue-oriented letters to the editor and will not print fruity, yogurt parfait letters.
