4 thoughts on “Others’ endorsements”

1. Doug November 1, 2006 at 1:57 pm

   How come the third largest paper can find time to endorse school board candidates and yet the largest paper can’t? If you want to talk about impacting education, this is where you should be focusing your attention.
   I also noticed last week that the SC Republican Party endorsed school board candidates for the first time.
   Richland 2 will most likely re-elect three incumbents who have been on the board for 12, 12, and 16 years. They have and will continue to be rubberstamps for the district administration. Just wait til the next bond referendum that’s coming up in two years. The full court press “for our children” will be starting soon. Grab your wallets…
   I’d be interested in hearing Randy’s perspective on the school board. Post it anonymously if you fear reprisal.

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2. Brad Warthen November 1, 2006 at 7:08 pm

   You’ve identified the single greatest flaw in our approach to endorsements. We just barely survive election seasons doing the candidates we do; school boards would more than double the number of interviews.
   As to how they do it — well, they only have one school district in their home county, and they’re just doing that county. Under those circumstances, we could swing it, too.
   We have seven districts in our two-county metro area. There can be 10 or 12 candidates in one of them, depending on the year.
   I’ve considered a number of ways to make it possible, but they’re all so slipshod — group meetings, for instance — that I wouldn’t want to base endorsements on them.
   You see, we would go into those meetings knowing far less about the candidates than we usually do about those running for the larger-district offices. That would call for more care and individual attention on our parts, not less.
   Of course, that’s also the reason why school board endorsements would be of supreme value to our readers. I just can’t figure out a way to do it, and do it right.
   By the way — I’m not sure whether Greenville is second- or third-largest. I didn’t mean to be misleading, I was just thinking of them as a pair. If it matters to you which is which, I’ll look it up. Right now, I’m late to be somewhere.

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3. Doug November 1, 2006 at 9:26 pm

   You could submit written questions to the school board candidates. And I know the candidate forums in Richland 2 are taped
   and played on cable TV. That’s about all the voters have to go on. I watched one the other night.

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4. 689063 Blog Verification November 2, 2006 at 1:35 am

   689063 Blog Verification

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