As to someone endorsing a candidate that he or she shares some characteristic with, what is wrong with that? It could be living in the same neighborhood, going to the same church, attending the same college, or even being a relative. No voter is compelled to accept the endorsement as binding on them. It is just one person’s opinion. How much credence or weight you give to it is completely up to you.

Why in the world should having some kind of relationship with the candidate disqualify you from endorsing him? When Barbara Boxer became an in-law of the Clintons, was she barred forever from endorsing Hillary? Are Catholic members of Congress from California prohibited from endorsing Catholics like John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Was George Washington to be indicted for endorsing anyone who was a Mason?

Since the author of the letter has an Asian name, I wondered if she would object if a Chinese-American official were to endorse two Chinese-American candidates. In my experience, most politically active people who identify with minority groups would more likely demand that he endorse people of his own ethnicity as a matter of group solidarity. Did Colin Powell get criticized for endorsing Obama inasmuch as they are both African-Americans?

The First Amendment guarantees the right to pick our own friends, and that is what an endorsement is. Since the letter writer could not even specify in her letter why her own friends were superior to the friends of the congressman, I conclude it is nothing but a cheap shot that appeals to religious prejudice.

Harry Reid: Once again, the majority leader has proven that he is the best argument for the reality of the independent judgment of Mormons on political issues. Until the McGovern campaign radicalized the Democratic Party, it was not difficult for Mormons to be active Democrats, and Mormons in Utah regularly elected Democrat governors and congressmen. Jon Huntsman, the Utah governor who is now ambassador to China has been a very moderate Republican. If the Democrats could be neutral on abortion and gay marriage, they would find plenty of additional support among both Mormons and Evangelicals on other issues. What has happened is that the radical progressives have marginalized the views of religious believers of many stripes, and then claimed that religious people are on the political fringe. Sadly, we may not have Harry Reid to point to for much longer.