Spring Break
OMBUDSMAN: Endorsement Question
by Maura Farrelly
Ombudsman | 2/12/08
Posted online at 2:27 AM EST on 2/12/08
Last week, the editors of the Justice did something that, to my knowledge, no Justice editor has ever done before: They entered the fray and endorsed a candidate from each of the two major political parties, just in time for the Massachusetts primary Feb. 5th.
For reasons that are not clear to me, this move seems to have engendered a bit of animosity among some Brandeis students. As with many of the actions the Justice takes, formal feedback on the editorial has been disappointingly minimal. The few comments that were posted on the paper's web site, though, indicate that some students feel the editors were suffering from delusions of grandeur when they called upon Brandeis Democrats to vote for Sen. Barack Obama and Brandeis Republicans to vote for Sen. John McCain.
I could not disagree more vociferously with the anonymous posters of these comments. Indeed, my only criticism of the editorial is not that it was published, but that it wasn't published sooner, when its contents might have had a more tangible impact on the countless Brandeis students from Super Tuesday states who are registered in their home districts and needed, therefore, to vote via absentee ballots.
I might also criticize the editorial for not being more substantive in its evaluation of what an Obama or McCain presidency might mean for people under the age of 30-but more on that in a moment.
First, I call upon the two individuals who criticized the editors of the Justice-not for endorsing Obama and McCain, but for endorsing any presidential candidate at all-to consider the implications of their critique. As I sit here typing this column, the five-year anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq sits ominously on the horizon; the Canadian dollar-not the first currency to spring to mind when thinking of international monetary powerhouses-is worth more than the American dollar for the first time since I learned how to eat solid food; crude oil prices are running at about $91 a barrel-up from $37 a barrel when members of the Class of 2008 were seniors in high school; and last year, more than 2 million American families faced the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure in the subprime lending crisis.
For reasons that are not clear to me, this move seems to have engendered a bit of animosity among some Brandeis students. As with many of the actions the Justice takes, formal feedback on the editorial has been disappointingly minimal. The few comments that were posted on the paper's web site, though, indicate that some students feel the editors were suffering from delusions of grandeur when they called upon Brandeis Democrats to vote for Sen. Barack Obama and Brandeis Republicans to vote for Sen. John McCain.
I could not disagree more vociferously with the anonymous posters of these comments. Indeed, my only criticism of the editorial is not that it was published, but that it wasn't published sooner, when its contents might have had a more tangible impact on the countless Brandeis students from Super Tuesday states who are registered in their home districts and needed, therefore, to vote via absentee ballots.
I might also criticize the editorial for not being more substantive in its evaluation of what an Obama or McCain presidency might mean for people under the age of 30-but more on that in a moment.
First, I call upon the two individuals who criticized the editors of the Justice-not for endorsing Obama and McCain, but for endorsing any presidential candidate at all-to consider the implications of their critique. As I sit here typing this column, the five-year anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq sits ominously on the horizon; the Canadian dollar-not the first currency to spring to mind when thinking of international monetary powerhouses-is worth more than the American dollar for the first time since I learned how to eat solid food; crude oil prices are running at about $91 a barrel-up from $37 a barrel when members of the Class of 2008 were seniors in high school; and last year, more than 2 million American families faced the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure in the subprime lending crisis.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Mike Rosenberg
posted 2/12/08 @ 8:42 AM EST
Thank you. I was appalled by the Justice's headlining calling people to vote for certain candidates. I'm a long time reader of the Justice, and that headline left a bad taste in my mouth. (Continued…)
Evan List
posted 2/26/08 @ 11:22 AM EST
I don't usually respond to the articles the Justice writes, but in the case of your ombudsman response I decided to write something. When I read the endorsement by the Justice of Barack Obama I was very upset. (Continued…)
James Sanders
posted 2/26/08 @ 2:11 PM EST
Evan,
I think you are wrong. The Justice did not try to impose anything on you. They endorsed candidates they thought were best. You don't have to agree. (Continued…)
Post a Comment