The alignments between candidates and special interest groups have become so predictable that endorsements only turn heads when they go against the grain. Observers have noted that endorsements carried little weight in May s party primaries. Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, a Democrat, and Republican Leo Daughtry both lost by wide margins. In Texas, while Republicans have established a dominance in state offices that challenges that of the Democrats in the middle part of the century, voters still support Democrats at local levels a sign that a strong independent streak crosses party lines. Not only do voters not need to be told how to vote, they don t want to be told.
Many newspapers continue to try, however.
Readers might factor that information into all that they use to make a choice, but we doubt that many are led by it. The Odessa American does not endorse candidates for several reasons. Practically, we know that, once elected, candidates can change. Philosophically, we value acts of individual conviction over decisions of the group. If majority rule can be seen as a form of tyranny, trying to build a majority is a form of coercion.