An Eye Towards November

We are now officially one month away from Election Day, and people have been asking me when I'm planning on making my endorsements in the Criminal Justice Races for 2018.

Quite frankly, I've been dreading it. 

The reason that I've been dreading is that in almost every race this year, I have two friends (in some cases, close friends) running against each other.  Making recommendations under these circumstances is kind of like when my 4-year-old asked me at my birthday dinner whether I liked him or his brother better. 

Not to mention that who I endorse in these elections has absolutely no effect on the outcome.  What happens on November 6th will be dictated by National politics and the Beto O'Rourke/Ted Cruz election -- not me.

So, basically, I've viewed writing my endorsements as a fantastic opportunity to alienate literally half of my friends who are running, while effecting absolutely no change. 

But, I do want people who do bother to read this blog to know about the candidates.  I really do.  There are a lot of great candidates on both sides of the political spectrum and I want those people outside of the CJC World who do read this blog to know about them.  There are also some candidates running that aren't qualified to hold the positions they seek at all, and I definitely want the outside world to know about them.

As tough as this situation is for me personally, I think that it is a positive situation for Harris County.  We've all seen Party sweeps in the past that led to some very bad candidates taking power.  I'd much rather see situations where I know that we'll be in good hands regardless of who wins.

So, what I've decided to do is write up my election reviews, but withhold the official "endorsement" part of it.  I'll profile the races and the candidates.  I'll tell you the good, the bad and the ugly.  In some cases, who I think people should vote for may be very apparent.  In others, not so much.

As I learned in the primary season, this method will still piss off some of the candidates.  I was privately criticized for failing to criticize one candidate enough. 

I'll just have to take my chances with that.