Pre-primary endorsements...

As the Primary Election quickly approaches the home stretch of campaigning, commercials have run non-stop on all the major networks, advertising the virtues of candidates. Endorsements by elected officials, or political parties, has become common place even before the voters can decide for themselves in the Primary Election. For instance, one commercial has Governor Bush endorsing a candidate for the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida over another qualified republican candidate. Everyone should question why our republican governor is attempting to influence this race before the Primary Election. The choice should be simple. Leave it up to the voters until after the Primary Election before making internal party endorsements, or comments, that may, or may not, be in the best interest of the public. On the local front, the Hernando County Republican Executive Committee is also recommending one candidate over another in the Primary Election this year via the telephone. No one should be surprised by the actions of the local HCREC since this has become their common practice to attempt to influence primary results without actually following adopted guidelines to endorse candidates for years. The wide range of qualified republican candidates that are running statewide deserve the opportunity to have a fair chance at the polls, without the influence of elected, or party, officials. Maybe it is time to consider changes to the Florida constitution to include Open Primary Elections to lesson the impact of pre-primary endorsements, without voter consent.