Do Endorsements Matter?

[MineralMan]

Whenever someone new endorses Hillary Clinton, we often hear that a particular endorsement doesn't mean anything. I tend to forget long lists of endorsers. Maybe that's because I'm an old geezer. Once in a while, though, I like to check who is endorsing the candidate I prefer, Hillary Clinton. It's a long list. I'm particularly interested in endorsements by current and former elected officials, particularly House and Senate members.

Their endorsements carry a good deal of weight. Democratic voters tend to think highly of their own Democratic House and Senate representatives. They vote for them again and again. When they endorse a candidate for President, it gets noticed in their own districts and states. I pay far less attention to celebrity endorsements, though. I doubt they have much of an impact.

Maybe you wonder who has endorsed Hillary Clinton so far. If so, you can find a current list at this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hillary_Clinton_presidential_campaign_endorsements,_2016


If you're interested in endorsements for Bernie Sanders, here's a link for that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bernie_Sanders_presidential_campaign_endorsements,_2016

[Skidmore]

1. Coattails matter.

Yes, they do.

[MineralMan]

3. Indeed they do.

Building solid relationships with other politicians is part of almost every politician's routine. It never hurts to have someone on your side down the road.

[djean111]

2. An endorsement is not enough to change my support for a candidate, support that is

is based on history and issues and believability.

In other words, if Liz Warren endorsed Hillary over Bernie, I would still support and vote for Bernie.

As far as my Congressmen are concerned, one is Marco Rubio, and I consider the other one, Nelson, a DINO. So I don't really care who they are endorsing.

Maybe you wonder who has endorsed Hillary Clinton so far

My goodness! That list is posted here all the time! No matter how many times it is posted, it does not erase, for me, the differences between Bernie and Hillary on issues and history and believability.

[MineralMan]

4. I don't pay a lot of attention to endorsements, either.

However, lots of people do. That's why politicians seek out endorsements. They do matter.

[djean111]

6. It seems to me that the angst about Bernie's supporters not caring who endorses Hillary,

here at DU, is kind of odd. Especially the implication, for example, that if I stand by PP, I must therefore stand by Hillary.

We keep seeing lists of Hillary's endorsements, as if that is enough to overcome the very real differences between Hillary and Bernie. Not going to happen.

[cali]

9. If lots of people do, why isn't Clinton well ahead in Iowa and NH?

She has all the big name endorsements in both states.

[MineralMan]

16. How would I know?

Iowa and NH are what they are. They will not decide the nomination. I live in neither of them, so my vote won't count there.

[bigwillq]

8. This

An endorsement is not enough to change my support for a candidate

Same for me.

I also care little about those who endorse the candidate that I am supporting. Their endorsement means little to me.

[cheapdate]

5. Yes, they do for me.

I'm not saying that endorsements are the beginning and end of my thinking about candidates, but if the choices are less than clear I might look at endorsements to help me make a decision.

Protecting the environment is an important issue for me. I might look to see what certain environmental organizations, such as the NRDC, EDF, or the SELC (Southern Environmental Law Center) have to say about a candidate.

Civil Liberties are important to me. I might check to see what the ACLU or the SPLC have to say.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Yes. Mine does.

Because that's the one I use as a guide to my voting.

[sadoldgirl]

10. Well, if they matter so much, it does not show

at this time. However, if my DINO governor endorsed
one candidate, I definitely would look hard to find
another one.

[OKNancy]

11. I think it reinforces those who are already supporting a candidate.

I support Hillary so when Planned Parenthood or someone who I admire endorses her, it makes me feel good about my decision.
It reinforces my already strong support.

[Sheepshank]

12. Political Endorsements mean something to me when the numbers are so lopsided

These are insiders who must work together to pass bills. They know each other. They know the strengths and weaknesses and the accomplishments of their peers. They must have each others' back with regard to down ticket representation. I don't neceassity put stock in celebrity endorsement outside of confirmations that there are a lot of publicity for a candidate, but peers, now that does mean something to me.

[SheilaT]

13. Endorsements probably only matter to relatively low information voters,

who can't be bothered to find out anything about a candidate. While that might make a certain amount of sense in various local races, it's foolish at the Presidential level. There's a lot out there to learn.

Count me as someone for whom the endorsements mean absolutely nothing in terms of changing my vote. I'm pleased when the candidate I'm for is endorsed, distressed when the other candidate is endorsed. That's all.

[Uncle Joe]

14. I believe endorsements like this carry the most weight.

Within minutes of one another, the progressive activist group Democracy for America and the Communications Workers of America union both backed the senator in the race for the Democratic nomination.

DFA, which was started by backers of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential bid, has grown into a well-regarded grassroots political and issue-advocacy organization with active groups in states across the country and a track record of backing progressive candidates at the local, state and federal levels. Early in the 2016 race, the group urged Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to seek the Democratic nomination. This month, it conducted a national poll of members that concluded December 15. Sanders won 87.9 percent of the 271,527 votes cast in a contest where an endorsement could only be secured with a super-majority (66.67 percent or more) of all the votes cast. Clinton (who is backed by Howard Dean) took 10.3 percent, while 1.1. percent backed Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

The level of support for Sanders was unprecedented. When the 11-year-old group held a similar vote on whether to endorse in the 2008 presidential race, no candidate cleared the super-majority hurdle.

“This is an historic moment for DFA, for the progressive movement, for the Democratic Party, for people-powered politics—and for Bernie supporters who relentlessly rallied over nine intense days to Get Out The Vote and win this pivotal endorsement,” explained Democracy for America’s executive director Charles Chamberlain. “Bernie Sanders is an unyielding populist progressive who decisively won Democracy for America members’ first presidential primary endorsement because of his lifelong commitment to taking on income inequality and the wealthy and powerful interests who are responsible for it.”


http://www.thenation.com/article/democracy-for-america-communications-workers-union-endorse-bernie-sanders/

When you have this many people speaking with such an overwhelming voice via a democratic process, that means a lot.

Thanks for the thread, MineralMan.

[MellowDem]

15. I think top donors...

Can be a much more clear way of finding out where a candidate will go on issues in this age of legal bribery.

Endorsements by organizations and politicians are often tied more to practical considerations of political expediency, you don't want to endorse against a candidate that's likely to win, for example. Looking at both parties, endorsements tend to show who the privileged status quo prefers, at least recently. And the donors match up nicely. It does make for some sorry bedfellows, but such is a political system that only gives two choices.