To Endorse Or Not Endorse
As we lurch closer to July, I see more people are taking up the question of whether or not the NEA will vote to endorse President Obama at its Representative Assembly here in bucolic Chicago. I certainly have my opinion, but I haven't been a member of the NEA for four years, and I haven't served as a delegate in ages.
However, it isn't at all clear to me that President Obama is seeking or even gives a fig about who the NEA endorses. As is clear in Valerie's column today, his education agenda is designed to appeal to Republicans and Blue Dogs, and any time someone in the President's own political base raises an objection, they're pooh-poohed. They're just resistant to change, is all. When the President criticizes polarization and partisanship, he's talking to the NEA, to the Urban League, the NAACP, Rainbow Push, and all of the people that he's a little bit embarrassed by. He'd probably rather be endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce than the NEA.
Certainly wiser people than I have already dissected this endorsement question, and I can only add two things. First, yes, the NEA is a democratic organization, and it will arrive at its decision through a fair process-- but it's also my recollection that a lot of the delegates I've met over time were elected on non-political platforms. It's usually more of a "please vote for me because I really want to be involved and I've gone before" type of thing. I
However, it isn't at all clear to me that President Obama is seeking or even gives a fig about who the NEA endorses. As is clear in Valerie's column today, his education agenda is designed to appeal to Republicans and Blue Dogs, and any time someone in the President's own political base raises an objection, they're pooh-poohed. They're just resistant to change, is all. When the President criticizes polarization and partisanship, he's talking to the NEA, to the Urban League, the NAACP, Rainbow Push, and all of the people that he's a little bit embarrassed by. He'd probably rather be endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce than the NEA.
Certainly wiser people than I have already dissected this endorsement question, and I can only add two things. First, yes, the NEA is a democratic organization, and it will arrive at its decision through a fair process-- but it's also my recollection that a lot of the delegates I've met over time were elected on non-political platforms. It's usually more of a "please vote for me because I really want to be involved and I've gone before" type of thing. I
