Opuscula Media endorsements: Current or outdated?

I NEVER GAVE IT MUCH THOUGHT until this political season, but media endorsements sometimes outlive their time.

We have a tightening race to determine what Democrat will stand against a Republican for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since the race is in my congressional district, I find myself watching the candidates’ advertisements.

The incumbent, who has been in office so long she no longer is responsive to her constituents, is running advertisements that claim the local newspaper – we still have a very active press in my area – endorsed her; praised her good works.

Her opponent also includes endorsements from the same newspaper – and others. The difference is, and this is what prompts this effort, the challenger includes the date of the endorsement and all dates are current. The incumbent somehow fails to include the dates the endorsements (allegedly) were made.

Interestingly, the incumbent grudgingly debated the challenger one time, and her ads fail to tell the voters what she will do on their behalf. (Making roll call votes in the House would be an improvement over her last term.) She whines about Republicans and Democrats, some “from out of state,” funneling funds to her opponent and she stands firmly behind her president.

Her raison d’être, she tells all who will listen, is to defeat the GOP presidential candidate. Not exactly a reason to vote for her in the Democrat primary.

The challenger naturally chastises the incumbent for her voting record and claims both the president and vp endorse him. Unless you support Washington’s current policies, that endorsement is enough to make you vote for whomever the GOP will field in November.

Given that the incumbent recently was pushed out of her job as DNC chair due to an email scandal– and quickly found a job with the Clinton campaign with its own email scandal – Democrat voters should seriously consider both candidates’ qualifications for the House seat. Honesty and truthfulness being two criteria

My district will not lose any political clout if the challenger or the GOP candidate is elected to replace the incumbent. She gave up any prestige when she took on the role as DNC chair – and abandoned her responsibilities as our (unresponsive) representative to congress. (To be fair, Florida’s junior senator also has a disgraceful voting record; worse, he denigrated the U.S. Senate and now decries that he was misunderstood; he really likes his job as a senator.)