My sense is that no one who's going to have to work with the new supervisor wants to stick their neck out. Campos' endorsement of four people, saying he couldn't decide, is emblematic of this. Lacy got the dccc's "least objectionable candidate" endorsement (although they could have given a positive endorsement to at least one of the candidates if the dccc weren't so über progressive). The endorsements matter insofar as creating name recognition and seeing who supports whom, but they are so all over the map that they become less relevant by the day.
So Sophie Maxwell has endorsed someone, So what? Anybody see that article in the Chron on Monday about endorsements? Turns out most of the Supidvisors can't even find their eggs and endorse one person. Imagine endorsing four candidates. "In America, they give medals for participating. Nobody goes home a loser." Here's the beginning of the article. Makes you want to cry.
Published on Monday, October 11, 2010 by the San Francisco Chronicle Candidates Exploit Ranked-Choice Endorsements by John Wildermuth Supervisor David Campos is endorsing Chris Jackson for supervisor in San Francisco's District 10. He's also supporting Tony Kelly, DeWitt Lacy and Eric Smith for that same seat on the board.
Ranked-choice voting, where people can cast ballots for three candidates instead of one, has changed elections in the city and, not incidentally, made life a bit easier for the politicians, clubs and organizations that are besieged by candidates seeking their backing.
"With ranked choice, there's more of a reason to endorse more than one person," Campos said. "District 10, for example, has four progressive candidates and I couldn't choose among them or have to rank them. They all would make a good supervisor."
But politics also is built on relationships and it's tough for any officeholder to tell a friend that he will endorse someone else. Now, they don't always have to, which can lead to different types of problems. Matt Gonzalez, a former supervisor and 2003 candidate for mayor, is backing Kelly as his choice in District 10, which includes Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Visitacion Valley. But when Lacy asked for an endorsement, "I told him he could list me if he made it clear he was my second choice," Gonzalez said. But when Lacy simply added Gonzalez as a backer, without that important qualifier, the former supervisor pulled his endorsement.
Campos. Where are your eggs? Really, can't we do better than this guy?
Although you can post anonymously, I encourage you to post as yourself or under a pseudonym in case other readers would like to respond to your comments. Thanks!
My sense is that no one who's going to have to work with the new supervisor wants to stick their neck out. Campos' endorsement of four people, saying he couldn't decide, is emblematic of this. Lacy got the dccc's "least objectionable candidate" endorsement (although they could have given a positive endorsement to at least one of the candidates if the dccc weren't so über progressive). The endorsements matter insofar as creating name recognition and seeing who supports whom, but they are so all over the map that they become less relevant by the day.
ReplyDeleteSo Sophie Maxwell has endorsed someone, So what? Anybody see that article in the Chron on Monday about endorsements? Turns out most of the Supidvisors can't even find their eggs and endorse one person. Imagine endorsing four candidates. "In America, they give medals for participating. Nobody goes home a loser." Here's the beginning of the article. Makes you want to cry.
ReplyDeletePublished on Monday, October 11, 2010 by the San Francisco Chronicle
Candidates Exploit Ranked-Choice Endorsements
by John Wildermuth
Supervisor David Campos is endorsing Chris Jackson for supervisor in San Francisco's District 10. He's also supporting Tony Kelly, DeWitt Lacy and Eric Smith for that same seat on the board.
Ranked-choice voting, where people can cast ballots for three candidates instead of one, has changed elections in the city and, not incidentally, made life a bit easier for the politicians, clubs and organizations that are besieged by candidates seeking their backing.
"With ranked choice, there's more of a reason to endorse more than one person," Campos said. "District 10, for example, has four progressive candidates and I couldn't choose among them or have to rank them. They all would make a good supervisor."
But politics also is built on relationships and it's tough for any officeholder to tell a friend that he will endorse someone else.
Now, they don't always have to, which can lead to different types of problems.
Matt Gonzalez, a former supervisor and 2003 candidate for mayor, is backing Kelly as his choice in District 10, which includes Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Visitacion Valley. But when Lacy asked for an endorsement, "I told him he could list me if he made it clear he was my second choice," Gonzalez said.
But when Lacy simply added Gonzalez as a backer, without that important qualifier, the former supervisor pulled his endorsement.
Campos. Where are your eggs? Really, can't we do better than this guy?