I’ve commented numerous times that The Oakland Press endorsement process is complicated. So, let’s go into some detail to give you further insight into what’s involved.

One of the first and most difficult actions is deciding in which races the newspaper should endorse a candidate. I won’t dwell on this because I’ve discussed it in the past but as a brief refresher, we try to not only select the most important races — for example, the governor’s race and the campaigns for state office — but also in those races that appear to be particularly close. There’s no guarantee but probably one of the closest races — at least one of the more heated — will be the battle between Rep. Gary Peters and challenger Rocky Raczkowski for the 9th District Congressional seat.

The next step is to schedule a time for the candidates to come in. Usually, we allocate a half hour to each candidate and bring them in separately, so they have the Editorial Board’s full attention. Scheduling is not necessarily difficult but it often is time consuming. You have to call a candidate or his representative. They have to get back to you with a possible time and date and then you have to keep going back and forth until a mutually convenient time is found for both the candidate and Editorial Board members. Setting up one appointment could take any where from five to 10 telephone calls. That may not seem like much but when you multiple that figure by the number of candidates you’re contacting, the total can get quite high.

During the interview, there are always a few basic questions to ask each candidate. Usually they run along the line of “why are you running for office” and “what do you believe are the most critical issues faced by the community?” Often, the answers will lead to other questions and so no two interviews are exactly the same.
After all of the candidate interviews are completed, members of the Editorial Board meet to compare notes. They decide on which candidates to endorse. The decision can be based on any number of criteria but generally the selection is of the person who the board believes would best serve the public. Obviously, we’re not always correct in our selections or the candidate we endorse doesn’t win. Well, that’s the way elections run.

Please remember that not all those endorsed have the unanimous backing of the board. Majority rules here as it does in the general election.
We try publish our endorsements over several weeks and at least two weeks before the election. This gives readers who desire some guidance a chance to look over the endorsements and decide if they agree or disagree.

Some things never change in the endorsement process. They are always time consuming. We don’t always select the person who wins the race and readers may not agree with our pick. But please remember, like many things in journalism, the endorsement process is a judgment call by the Editorial Board.