Text size:

THE NEWSDAY EDITORIAL BOARD ENDORSES: Behind the scenes at endorsement time

BY NEWSDAY'S EDITORIAL BOARD | The members of Newsday's editorial board are Alleen Barber, Alvin Bessent, Rita Ciolli, Walt Handelsman, Bob Keeler, Timothy Knight, Anne Michaud and Leslie Seifert.

October 22, 2008

Just how does Newsday's editorial board come to its endorsement decisions? That's a question often asked of us, sometimes out of curiosity and sometimes more in disbelief.

The answer is the board weighs which candidate would make the best public official. That means our decisions are relative: Which candidate is better, compared with the other, in any given contest?

Newsday is an independent newspaper, and endorsement decisions are not based on a candidate's party affiliation. Nor are these choices influenced by our corporate owners, who have not been involved in this process.

Political ideology is also not a major factor, although we tend to favor moderate over extreme views. And the degree to which a candidate agrees with Newsday's long-standing editorial positions, though it is important, is not even necessarily a determining factor. We want to support those who can best represent Long Island's interests, even if they disagree with us on some issues.

The board that makes endorsement decisions includes the editorial writers, the opinion editors, the editorial-page editor and the publisher. Newsday maintains a wall between its news and opinion operations. Rita Ciolli, the editorial-page editor, reports directly to Timothy Knight, the publisher. Reporters and editors on the news-gathering side of the paper - all the pages that don't say "Editorials" or "Opinion" on top of them - have nothing to do with endorsements. They are neither present at the candidates' interviews nor involved in the deliberations.

This year, major-party candidates for State Senate, Assembly and the House of Representatives met, along with their opponents, with members of the board. All 68 candidates who had opponents were invited; six chose not to come.

Soon after each interview, board members discussed the session, to decide which candidate would receive the endorsement. Sometimes these were heated exchanges, but everyone had their say, and we were able to reach consensus.

For state legislative races this year, we developed a list of statewide issues vital to voters, such as property tax reform, budget cuts, energy policy, public pension system reform, affordable housing and education policy, as well as critical local issues, such as a third track for the LIRR, the proposed rail-truck intermodal facility in Brentwood, and the future of Belmont Park.

Candidates' responses helped guide our decisions, but did not determine them. We considered the candidates' command of the issues and how effective they are likely to be in office. For incumbents, we measured what they've accomplished. For challengers, we wanted to know what motivated them to run and what experience and skills they would bring to the office.

Throughout the board's history, there have been numerous instances of Newsday's endorsing a candidate one year and not in a subsequent election. That's because we evaluate each race each year on its merits. There are contests in which we will praise each candidate and then choose the better of two good choices, but every now and then, the decision comes down to which one is least mediocre. Sometimes, we choose not to endorse at all.

Since we believe strongly that contested elections are an insurance policy for our democracy, we will not endorse in races where a candidate is running unopposed.

Voters must make tough choices, and our job is to help, with research and analysis that can make those choices more informed. We consider endorsements one of the most important roles of the board. Agree with us or not, we hope you will be encouraged to vote on Election Day.