As I noted in an article posted Sunday, The Gazette’s endorsement process wrapped up Sunday with a vote of confidence in John McCain for president.
While that might be the most high-profile of the endorsements, I would argue it’s not the most important. If you’re interested in national politics, you already know what each candidate stands for and have an idea of which is most in line with your views.
Where the endorsements really help shed light on things is at the local level.
The Gazette took at look at many of the local races and the editorial board weighed in on them.
You can find the endorsements for Linn County Supervisor and Sheriff here, the Iowa state House here, State Senate here and here and our endorsements for U.S. Congress here.
In every election season, there’s a lot of talk about bias in the media. Republicans accuse newspapers of being too liberal, and Democrats accuse them of being too conservative. While it is true that The Gazette has never endorsed a Democrat for President, you would be hard-pressed to find a bias in the endorsements. Rather than look at party, the editorial board looked at qualifications and made a judgment call about who would do the best job. There is a mix throughout of both Democrats and Republicans.
A few questions: Do newspaper editorials matter to you? Do you even read them? Do political parties matter in local elections?
