From the Editor: Why we endorse in political contests

In 1995, I was the Daily Herald's editor for Naperville and Lisle. Come election time, I was deputized to the Editorial Board for the purpose of endorsing in local races. It wasn't my first election endorsing candidates.

When I interviewed those running for mayor of Naperville, I had a lovely interview with the challenger but got the sense that as someone with no prior political experience he wasn't ready to run the largest municipality in our expansive coverage area. I recommended to the Editorial Board that despite his having charm for miles - he was the police department's beloved Officer Friendly - we should not endorse him.

That man was George Pradel, and he won the election and then was reelected four times, becoming the longest-serving mayor in the history of the city.

Boy did we blow that one.

I remember this so well because soon after our endorsement was published, Pradel mailed me a handwritten card thanking me for the opportunity to speak to me and express his ideas for the future of Naperville.

Mind you, this is a man we did not endorse. He never held a grudge.

I bring up this distant memory to explain why we do political endorsements.

There are many business reasons why we shouldn't endorse. It's expensive. It takes a lot of staff time to make it happen. People often get piqued when we don't endorse their candidate.

These are reasons many news outlets have thrown in the towel.

I'm compelled to address this now - the day before Election Day - because during every election cycle at least one person will write to us asking why we endorse, clearly affronted that we do. But many, many more thank us for doing so.

And the number of people who read our endorsements - especially the summaries of endorsements we publish in the weeks and days leading up to the election - are among the highest read things on our website.

I view endorsements as one tool we provide to help you decide whether you should vote for Candidate A or Candidate B.

We publish candidate questionnaires and write issue-related stories, but our being able to spend an hour with all of the candidates in a given race is the kind of access few get. We're able to see how they respond to certain questions and answers from other candidates.

Are our endorsements our predictions for who will win? No. Are our endorsements telling you for whom to vote? No. But with them we attempt to shine a light on the positions, ideas and temperament of people that you don't quite get in campaign mailers. We try to show you how the candidates differ.

If you have confidence in us, you likely will have confidence in how we vet candidates.

Our mission is simply to help create a more informed electorate.

We are delighted when candidates we do not endorse become excellent incumbents.

Like George Pradel.