Upstart candidate gives lesson about assumptions
The candidate spoke rather disparagingly of the qualifications of some of the candidates from the other party.
One was dismissed as a store clerk.
That was on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, the store clerk showed up for his editorial endorsement session with the Daily Herald.
He was 23-year-old Tony Michelassi, graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School studying political science at College of DuPage, and, yes, working as a clerk at Osco Drug to make ends meet. He's running for DuPage County Board District 5 as a Democrat.
You'd think all that would knock him out of the box. A Democrat hasn't been elected to the county board in decades, and despite some talk about "the Obama effect," his coattails would have to be incredibly long to whisk Michelassi or any of his Democratic running mates into office on Nov. 4.
Yet, it would be a big mistake to dismiss Michelassi as a know-nothing, unqualified upstart, a warm body on the Democratic ticket. In his interview, which included three Republican incumbents and the odds-on-favorite GOP newcomer, Michelassi more than held his own. He spoke knowledgeably about the county budget, salaries, transportation, home rule, red-light enforcement cameras and everything else that another editor and I threw at him.
And I guess that shows the value of the face-to-face interviews we do with candidates each election season. This year, I'm interviewing the county board candidates, with the help of our county government reporter, Jake Griffin, and assistant city editor Robert Sanchez, also a former county reporter.
I tell you the story of Michelassi not because I necessarily plan to recommend to our editorial board that we endorse him, but to illustrate the value of face-to-face contact and that fact that you shouldn't write someone off as unqualified because he isn't, say, an attorney or business executive.
The endorsement interviews are but one way we try to get a feel for the candidates. We also base our recommendations on the stories our reporters flesh out during the campaign and detailed questionnaires we ask the candidates to fill out. We already have their replies posted on dailyherald.com, and we're trying to run as many of them as possible between now and the election in our Neighbor editions.
The candidate endorsement interviews also serve the very useful purpose of getting the candidates to expound on the issues, providing ideas for the stories we'll be pursuing in the next few weeks. (I am sure Jake is just champing at the bit for all the work I have for him.)
So, with our stories, the interviews and the questionnaires as the backdrop, I'll be making my recommendations to the editorial board, which has the final say.
This candidate interview process is going on throughout the newspaper at virtually every local level of government - from Congress to the General Assembly to county government and local referendums.
And even though I cringe at the reaction we'll get - from either side of the political spectrum - we'll begin our formal endorsements on Sunday with our recommendation for president. (No, I didn't ask, so I can't tell.)
And because the presidential election is drawing so much attention, we'll be inviting readers to e mail or write with their views.
"We recognize we don't have a monopoly on insight in these matters," said Editor John Lampinen, "and we're trying to find ways to reflect alternate points of view."
See Sunday's paper for details.