Kamala Harris is supported by Beyoncé and Charli XCX
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has begun using a meme referencing pop artist Charli XCX.
without brand – Entertainment
Maybe you are as tired of seeing them in various media as I am.
The lists of recommendations that political candidates give us can be as irrelevant as they are offensive.
Do I really care if a candidate is endorsed by realtors or construction associations, by legislators in those industries, or by an economic development board? Does that mean the candidate is pro-growth and wants to bring more properties to market at higher prices to earn higher commissions?
And what about candidates who are endorsed by public sector unions, including firefighters? Does that mean the candidates would support more growth or higher taxes to fund higher salaries and benefits? Or would that just mean they want firefighters to be treated fairly and safely?
I don’t know. Candidates and advocacy groups support these recommendations without providing the context of why they were made.
Recently I saw a candidate brag about having a Medal of Honor recipient endorse him. I had never heard of this hero and had no idea how he knew the candidate or anything. Why should I care who he endorsed? Has he interviewed other candidates in this race?
As the Shania Twain song goes, “I don’t much care.”
Even the news media are reporting recommendations.
Does it matter that entertainers Beyoncé, Charli XCX, Katy Perry and others support Kamala Harris for president?
What if Elon Musk, Savannah Chrisley, Chris Janson or Lee Greenwood supported Donald Trump?
These celebrities are just people. And damn, I’ve never heard of Charli XCX.
What makes a good candidate?
This whole approval thing reminds me of something I learned as a boy: Psalm 146:3.
“Put not your trust in nobles, nor in mortals, who have not the ability to bring salvation.”
Blessed with faith, a mind, an education from public and private institutions, and decades of living in the trenches of this and other communities, I have learned to discern who is the best candidate to serve me and my neighbors.
Conducting such research is an electoral duty that we must take seriously. If we don’t, we will end up with inadequate representatives in a community that deserves better.
Researching candidates locally was relatively easy. Most are easily accessible. Some walk the neighborhood. The best have spent years volunteering in the community, serving their neighbors in various capacities and getting to know a cross-section of their electorate.
That’s what the pillars of Indian River County do before they run for office. A half-page school board ad from the 1960s reminded me of that. Dan Richardson ran with a resume of service to the community that few can emulate. He was a leader.
An applicant’s CV is important
Richardson didn’t list any endorsements. He didn’t attack his opponents. Given what he did in the city, a lot of people knew him, knew what he stood for, and knew whether he could do the job effectively.
He was involved in many areas of the community for decades, from schools to charity, and died in 2014 as one of the county’s icons.
When I moved here in 1985, Indian River County had a population of about 75,000. Today, with a population of 170,000, it’s much harder to get to know my neighbors.
The congressional districts have a population of about 770,000. And you wonder why you feel so detached from Washington?
Of the five candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge), I have only met one: Mike Haridopolos, the former president of the Florida Senate, also from Brevard County. He, like Posey, knocked on my door when they were running for state office.
When I read this headline the other day, I didn’t care at all: “GOP Congressional Candidate Babits Suspends Campaign and Endorses Hearton Instead of Haridopolos”
Joe Babit’s resume looked better than John Hearton’s, but neither of them seemed to have made a particular effort to reach out to voters like me or to serve that community in the way Richardson did. I received numerous emails from Hearton – including diatribes against Haridopolos (at least he had the courage to put his name on it).
But why should I care what Babits thinks? I’ll do my own research.
Back then, candidates took out newspaper ads with the signatures of dozens of people – regular people like you and me, not special interests – who supported them. In the early 2000s, endorsements by politicians became increasingly popular.
Central government involvement in local politics
Now politicians appear to be playing a bigger role in supporting, from Tallahassee to Washington. Florida’s leader has snuck in local Elections. That’s what scares this conservative.
The federal bureaucracy is worrying. Florida’s is also large. It supports the 14th largest economy in the world, ahead of Spain and Mexico, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Florida’s population, the third-largest among the states, is as large as that of Taiwan and more than twice that of Sweden, Belgium and Greece, according to visualcapitalist.com
A state this large should not be governed from Tallahassee. Its chief executive should not decide who represents us in local offices. Our votes should not be dictated or determined based on what central leaders or their apparatchiks think is best.
That’s what they do in dictatorships and banana republics.
Our governor, Ron DeSantis, has repeatedly removed officials elected by local residents, from prosecutors to city council members, and then appointed officials who are beholden to him.
This is essentially what he did with Brian Barefoot, the former president of Babson College and member of the Indian River County School Board, who accidentally resigned earlier this year but quickly rescinded his resignation when he realized he had not moved out of the district he served.
DeSantis appointed Kevin McDonald, whose local public service record pales in comparison to Barefoot’s. McDonald’s claim to fame: He chaired the board of directors of a private Christian school in New York City with a few hundred students. McDonald was a disappointment, as he was part of a trio that made national headlines for banning a book with no sexual content.
DeSantis has brought in even more questionable candidates over the years, including on the Treasure Coast, without even interviewing some of them in person. It would be impossible for him to research or meet with every candidate he appoints or “endorses.”
There was Brennan Keeler, who was appointed judge of the 19th Judicial District, representing Indian River County. Keeler resigned this year after less than three months on the job. What kind of vetting did the governor do before appointing someone who decided so quickly that he didn’t want the job?
There’s Keith Pearson, a mid-level deputy with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office whom DeSantis appointed when Ken Mascara retired. Pearson was such a poor choice that the county’s Republican executive committee strongly objected, as did the district attorney.
Pearson has been so bad that DeSantis has so far declined to “re-endorse” him in the Republican primary, despite announcing his support in 54 sheriff races last week.
The bottom line is that recommendations are far from perfect and are rarely explained.
At the very least, TCPalm’s recommendations are explained, often in detail, and based on nonpartisan criteria that favor the best candidates for our local community, including experience, past track records, and transparency.
Our editorial interviews are made public so you can see what we see, but they should only be part of a voter’s research efforts, if at all.
But I’m not particularly impressed by people who tout recommendations without context, as we often see.
This column reflects the opinions of Laurence Reisman. Reach him by email at [email protected], by phone at 772-978-2223, on Facebook.com/larryreisman or on Twitter @LaurenceReisman..
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