Out with Endorsements, In with Candidate Spotlights

Topic: Elections

Last year, with primaries and the 2022 midterms in full swing, I made a ton of endorsements.  When I first started issuing them, I almost felt embarrassed to put them out.  It wasn’t long until I considered it an honor that my voice in election integrity carried enough weight that candidates came to me hoping that my judgment would weigh in their favor when it came time for voting.

My endorsements were made in good faith.  I was never paid a single nickel for any one endorsement, so I could not be incentivized financially to choose unwisely, nor did I make every endorsement I was asked to make.  Sometimes I stepped in it and messed up grassroots initiatives in states (sorry, Mississippi), and other times I hit it right on the money, like with Reagan Paul in Maine, or by backing great candidates who would have won fair races, like Kari Lake.  I also had to rescind an endorsement for one candidate who went back on his commitment to pursue election reform as soon as he won his primary.

My spate of endorsements was intended to un-ass as many incumbents, especially those who showed no regard whatsoever for the injustice of the 2020 quasi-election, as humanly possible.  Few of my picks won, and I’m not sure that is because they shouldn’t have.  Regardless, making flat endorsements has too many negative consequences when one is expected to call balls and strikes fairly. 

There were times when my picks caused infighting among grassroots groups, like when I endorsed Joe Kent in Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District and put the other camps into a rage that I heard about on the evening of an event in Clark County.  On many occasions, because my focus was on elections, my picks opposed President Trump’s.  Now, I do not for a second believe President Trump expects people to rubber stamp every candidate he likes; however, I’m presenting too much critical information in too many critical places, and flying too close to too many key figures orbiting around the very top of the totem pole to have to potentially own everything a candidate does or fails to do by virtue of having made a sweeping endorsement.

That is why I made Donald J. Trump my last endorsement and will be issuing Candidate Spotlights from here on out.

Candidate spotlights serve as my endorsement of a candidate in only one field – election integrity.  If I am known for my election research and proposed reforms, then it should go without saying that my evaluations will cover elections only; therefore, it is possible that I will issue candidate spotlights for multiple candidates pursuing the same office, if in fact all under consideration instill in me a sense of confidence that they will pursue the Ten Points to True Election Integrity to the extent possible, and that they express a satisfactory position as to the current state of our elections.

My first candidate spotlight was issued yesterday for John O’Shea, who is running to primary GOP establishment puppet Kay Granger for U.S. House seat TX-12, which contains western Tarrant County and most of Parker County.  Granger is thought to be potentially vulnerable thanks to her squishy positions and general lack of achievement, and having met O’Shea last year and interviewed him this week, I felt like he deserved something of value in return for his request. This is what I issued:

These spotlights should give election integrity leaders confidence that a candidate “checks out” in the only field that truly has lasting meaning in today’s political world.  While some who receive a spotlight may turn squishy and abandon previously held positions, my assessments should help rank viable contenders for office without having blanket endorsements obfuscate any other necessary evaluations.

If you would like your candidate to be evaluated for a candidate spotlight, you or the candidate may email me the request at skeshel@protonmail.com.  From prior lessons learned, I will not be awarding a spotlight without interviewing the candidate myself.  Again, these spotlights are for election integrity only, and no amount of great border policies, exemplary church attendance, fiscal sanity, or cringy shock jock sound bites will suffice – only an ardent commitment to fixing our nation’s broken elections will.

Author’s Note: I am going to issue one more endorsement, and it will be for a good friend announcing a Congressional run in the near future.  While that will be an exception, this work takes a lot of energy and committed research.  If you find this journal useful, you will be pleased to know that announcements like this one, or elaboration on any must-do item, will always be free for all; however, for deeper analysis and election research, a paid membership will unlock everything and go a long way in helping keep my mission underway and independent.  Thank you for your consideration.