NEW ON KJs BLOG universitylakesjp/what_is_an_endorsement WHAT IS AN ENDORSEMENT? I’ve been asked by numerous friends and supporters who I will be “endorsing” this election cycle for various positions. That’s a slightly different question that “Who will you be voting for?” When a person runs for office, s/he is essentially applying for a job. It’s just that there are A LOT of people on the hiring committee. A whole community. An endorsement is essentially a Letter of Recommendation to that hiring committee. So who would I write a Letter of Recommendation for? What do I think some of the important factors should be? • ASK. Well first of all, the candidate/applicant would have to actually ASK me for my support. Believe it or not, some folks think that they should give/receive support of others based on party affiliation alone. This doesn’t make sense to me. Party affiliation is a good indicator of like interests, values, and beliefs… but remember, political representation is a job that you’re applying for… so is party affiliation enough? It’s definitely a factor, like perhaps hobbies or other organizational connections, etc… but if you don’t have the chutzpah to actually approach a person and talk to them about their support, then why would a candidate/applicant just expect it? Accordingly, if a person wanted my support, they would have to actually reach out me and ASK me for my help in getting the job s/he wants. The ability to communicate is important for every person… and particularly for politicians at and on every level. • LIKE. I would actually have to know and LIKE the person. Who in their right mind would write a Letter of Recommendation for a person they didn’t actually know or like? Yet, this happens all the time in politics. I understand that politics makes strange bed fellows (big picture goals or lesser of two evils arguments) , but personally, if I’ve had no interaction with a person or that candidate/applicant has or is saying nasty things about me… then why on earth would I support that person in any way, shape, or form? If a person has done something that I think is wrong or unethical, how could that person possibly expect me to be a positive reference for their future behavior or employment? Not only would not write that Letter of Recommendation for that person, I would question the ethics and performance of any person who would. • EDUCATION/TRAINING/WORK EXPERIENCE. In business, you would never refer a person for a job unless they were actually QUALIFIED to hold that position. In business, a person’s training, work history, and experience are critical when deciding whether or not to write a Letter of Recommendation. The same should be true in politics. Point blank, the ability to knock on doors and campaign is not the same thing as the ability to do a job. Now, it’s true that no person goes in to a new job entirely prepared for that job or all of the tasks to be performed. S/he learns aspects of the job while on the job. That’s normal. Consequently, the ability and willingness to learn and expand go a very long way in my opinion. I know some very smart people with no formal education or training who own some very successful businesses. But it’s not just one person’s life you’re messing with in politics. It’s the entire community. I’m not willing to take that risk without some darn good reasons. Having said that, I believe there absolutely can be a place for all walks of life in politics. In fact, diversity is needed. As such, I would be willing to recommend a bright, driven person without a formal background in an area, but I would definitely need to be wholly impressed with the person and convinced of his/her preparedness, desire, and ability to embrace the learning curve if s/he didn’t have any background in a realm which I considered important to the job. Normally, I would actually like a person applying to be an accountant to have an accounting degree or have been trained as a bookkeeper. I want a nurse who has nursing/medical training. A teacher should have an education degree or at least some sort of higher degree with teaching preparation. I wouldn’t just point blank start telling people who to hire for their company because that person is a person I know or a friend knows and could probably do the job just fine. That’s just not enough. Again not only would I not write that particular Letter of Recommendation, personally, I would reject doing business with the person who would. • WHY. Finally, I would want to know WHY a person wants the job and what the candidate/applicant actually knows about the job and the company. I offer these thoughts to you after a fair amount of contemplation on the subject. I offer them to you as sort of academic ideas. I encourage you to ASK QUESTIONS of people who endorse someone. ASK QUESTIONS of candidates. Email or call. They will respond. For me, bottom line, as a Judge Pro Tem, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to write that Letter of Recommendation for anyone. That’s not to say that I don’t think that one, some, or all applicants/candidates might not worthy of endorsement. Rather, I just don’t think that ethically it’s appropriate for me do so. Ideologically, I am also keeping my vote to myself.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 20:02:32 +0000
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