Nick Jimenez

Sunday, October 29, 2000

Presidential endorsement: a new policy

The question is often asked of my colleagues at this newspaper, and of me: So, has the newspaper changed since you'll became part of Scripps Howard?
   The answer, for the most part, is no.
   We're still trying to turn out the best newspaper we can and the folks at Scripps Howard are trying in every way they can manage to help us do that.
   But today there is a change. Today we are ending one tradition and starting another.
   For as many years as this newspaper has endorsed presidential candidates, the decision on which candidate will receive the endorsement of the Caller-Times Editorial Board has been ours alone. And we've had a good time doing it, too. Since I became part of the Board, the discussions have been, shall we say, interesting. The members of the board haven't always agreed with each other, and the debate around the table has reflected a wide range of thought. But somewhere along the way we came to a decision and went with our endorsement.
   Believe me, the losers of the debate have never failed to remind those who carried the day if the candidate endorsed wandered off into the political woods. But whatever the decision, it was ours.
   Today we endorse George W. Bush, our governor, for president of the United States. Our colleague in Washington, Jay Ambrose, chief editorial writer for the Scripps Howard News Service, has written this endorsement editorial. It is simultaneously appearing in all the other Scripps Howard newspapers across the nation. As Jay explains in his column elsewhere on this page, the endorsement for president is a Scripps Howard tradition.
   I won't kid you. I wish we could have written the editorial. George W. Bush is our governor. We've met with Bush over the years since he was a gubernatorial candidate. We've seen the positive effects of his policies on education, on tort reform, on juvenile justice and we've heard and watched him try to change tax policy. He failed, but that attempt told us a lot about the kind of far-seeing executive Bush is and can be.
   I've seen Bush create a Hispanic constituency in Texas of the kind no Republican had ever done before. That's good for the political health of Texas and good for the Republican Party.
   He's appointed good people to the judiciary who are solid and, most of all, not the kind of ideologues all those scare stories have been touting. Recently-resigned state health commissioner William "Reyn" Archer" notwithstanding, Bush's appointments have been solid and inclusive.
   The governor's record on the environment hasn't been a lot to crow about, and there's still a long way to go on children's health. But those problems have been building since Democrats lived in the Governor's Mansion.
   True, that's a parochial view. All politics is local, but there's a broader view. That's what the presidential endorsement through Scripps Howard newspapers brings. As Jay explains, we get our say in the discussion through the voices of the editors who participate in the national discussion.
   But there is a pride in authorship. Jay, who has dropped the cloak of anonymity that editorial writers usually wear, has laid out some sound reasons why Bush is the best pick. His editorials do appear in our pages from time to time, though you, the reader, don't know that. We, obviously, would have written the endorsement editorial from a different perspective. Not better, just different.
   But Jay, in this instance, gives us - and here I am speaking of the Scripps Howard editorial boards across the nation - one united and consistent voice.
   What does that mean for you, the reader? It means that the folks who run Scripps Howard care a lot about editorial policy and think it's vitally important. It tells me that they have a great deal of respect for the informed citizen and they want to engage in a conversation with that citizen. In other words, this is not just a business deal between Scripps Howard and us. They - and we - really believe in such things as participatory democracy and the pursuit of happiness.
   Consider today's editorial the day we sing as part of a choir. And compared to a soloist, a choir is much more powerful - and, we hope, more persuasive.
   (Nick Jimenez can be reached by phone at 886-3787, or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com)
  
  

 
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