The News Tribune Opinion page remains committed to publishing all elections-related letters to the editor we receive that meet our rules for civility, exclusivity and length (no more than 200 words for letters in support of or in opposition to specific candidates; no more than 300 words for others).
And we're doing pretty well -- as swamped as we've been with "Readers' Views," as we call our daily letters section.
You may have noticed: We've been opening up extra pages for letters. Entire pages. With more to come as we count down to Election 2010, Nov. 2. We're devoting the additional space at the sacrifice of
*evenue-generating advertising and other content for one simple reason: Everyone's opinion matters. A robust community dialog couldn't be more critical than when picking our representatives and government leaders.
It's the same reason we endorse candidates -- and why we're baffled when some newspapers, who run editorials about and take stands on all sorts of issues all year, suddenly fall silent at election time.
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Our editorial board has spent much of the past two months screening candidates one-on-one; interviewing them at forums, including one this election season on the Iron Range; talking to others about them; and poring over their mountains of campaign promises, claims and literature.
The News Tribune's endorsements, as determined by the editorial board, weren't made lightly. Not a single one of them. Each was the result of research and debate -- and sometimes quite heated debate -- within the five-member editorial board. Not every endorsement was reached unanimously.
The newspaper's endorsements have now all been published. We'll run a roundup a week from today. Not to tell you who to vote for but to share our views about who we feel will do the best job or has the best chance at leading and being effective.
Your letters will continue to be published through this weekend; the deadline for elections letters is the end of the day today. So get 'em in. We're committed to doing our best to get 'em published -- both online and in the print editions, if at all possible.
A diversity and wealth of opinions and ideas can lead to the best decisions. Never is that more true than when electing our leaders.
