EDITORIAL:Keep a critical eye on political endorsements

The parade of political endorsements for this fall’s city council and school board elections has started in earnest.

The Orange County Republicans have made their picks. Democratic groups are having their say. The California Republican Assembly has weighed in. The teachers union chose its candidates.

But, thus far, most of the attention has fallen to the public safety endorsements, especially in Costa Mesa where neither police nor fire department employees backed Mayor Allan Mansoor, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who has made public safety a cornerstone of his campaign.

Much is being made about this lack of support. Is it because of the mayor’s plan to have officers enforce immigration laws? Union leaders say no. Is it because the mayor was an opponent of 2005’s Proposition 75, which would have required unions to get their members’ OK before spending money on political matters? Mansoor certainly thinks so. Is it perhaps some combination of those two issues, plus plenty of others?

It’s a good bet it is, for a simple reason that voters need to keep in mind: Many endorsements are ultimately about politics. A candidate’s position on issues could get trumped, or at least qualified, by questions such as: Who knows whom? Who has backed which candidate in the past? Which candidate might be more likely to support pay raises for unions? The list goes on.

In other words, having the support of public safety employees does not necessarily mean that candidate is the most dedicated to public safety. And having a prominent person’s endorsement could just mean that candidate knows the right person.

Now, all that doesn’t mean that endorsements aren’t useful to voters. They can provide helpful guidelines — did my party support these people or this ballot measure, did a group I trust endorse them? — but should not be taken just at face value. Indeed, informed voters ought to take a close look at why a certain person or certain group is backing a particular candidate. (And yes, voters even should try to figure out why, when the Pilot makes its endorsements in a couple of weeks, we choose as we do.) They should ask whether there is more to the support than meets the eye.

Remember, in politics, there typically is.