A Personal Observation About Endorsements
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the young making their own informed choices this early on in the race. No question that this is a direct result from the information age inspired by social media. I see this as a significant change from the time when the roots of my hair still produced its own dark pigment. Back when I was young, the sources of information were so limited that it was common to over-rely on endorsements.
Especially in the child rearing years, I remember my husband and I both counted on the newspaper endorsements to help us make our choices for the local races. That was especially true when we first moved into our community. Now I laugh at my naivete. It never occurred to me that a local paper would put aside its own objective professionalism in order to assist reckless leaders in their pursuit for the latest growth spurt in Central Florida. But that was the reality of Florida life. They want to build, build, build in this state, as if raising houses is the same thing as shoring up the well-being of our communities. It's not.
Back then, information was easily withheld from the public so that no one could examine what went wrong when a project went haywire. It was far too easy to do because everyone counted on the transient nature of the Floridian resident. People either died-off or moved on so no one of good conscience had the time or resources to catch on to the conspiratorial nature behind these endorsements.
But, I learned. Endorsements are sometimes loaded with personal interest from the leaders who determine who they want you to support. And, all to often, those endorsement are just plain wrong-minded.
So, I'm just happy that there is a youthful generation out there that has access to information and are capable of making their own decisions. That's especially important given how leaders from the past have always taken the young for granted, thinking that history would never catch up with them. But, with the resources now available on the internet, I am confident it eventually will.
Here's hoping that social media can overcome the Rise of the Endorsements, since that appears to be the way this Battle for the Primary is shaping up. There is probably no time in history when it's more important to make your vote your own.
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