<font color="#0033CC">OUR VIEW:</font> A new era for the Democrat

One function of a community newspaper is to lead the debate on issues of the day. Such has been the mission of this newspaper, on its editorial pages, for the past 125 years.

Yet as the community grows, so must we, and the time has come for us to redouble our efforts - and end a long, sometimes awkward silence in the process. Starting with this spring's Live Oak city elections, the Suwannee Democrat will publicly endorse the candidate we believe best suited for the job.

Endorsements will be based on the candidate's record of public service (if any), as well as his or her character, work ethic, intelligence and history of success in business or personal endeavors. Our choices will be announced just before the onset of early voting.

With each endorsement will come a careful explanation of the reasoning behind it. That doesn't mean we expect you to take our word for it, though. Your job is to weigh our opinion against your own insights and observations, then make a choice that reflects your values.

If your opinion matches ours, fine. If not, that's fine too. As always, you will be welcome to share your views, either in a Letter to the Editor, a submission to Rant & Rave, or online in our Facebook forum.

Now, in some races we may not endorse anyone. There may be more than one well-qualified candidate or there may be none at all, as we see it. We'll give you our honest opinion whatever the case.

Understand, too, that an endorsement by the Democrat doesn't mean everyone associated with us shares that view. Everything that appears in Our View, including political endorsements, represents the opinion of the Suwannee Democrat editorial board, which consists of Publisher Myra Regan and Editor Robert Bridges. Should you have a problem, it's with us and us alone.

Finally, all endorsements will be limited to local races. As with our news coverage, the focus here is on Suwannee County alone. The lone exception is for state legislative races. Beyond that, sources of information are plentiful, and we have no desire to compete with Fox News or The New York Times, whatever your pleasure (or poison).

The policy announced here today represents a major shift in long-standing practice, folks. We think it's long overdue. As always, though, we'd like to hear from you - on this or anything else. You can reach us at 386-362-1734 or by email at nf.editorial@gaflnews.com.

Coming next week: Our editorial checklist for 2010.

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