Last week The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Columbus Dispatch, the two most influential newspapers in the state, endorsed candidates for the Nov. 6 election.
However, the swing state papers didn’t endorse the same candidate.
The Plain Dealer endorsed President Barack Obama, and a few days later, The Dispatch endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Over the past few weeks The Lantern has been working on an 11-part political series that aims to break down the biggest political issues of the election. We talk to students who are passionate about both candidates, and some people who are passionate about the issues at hand. During this time, we’ve had several people ask if The Lantern is planning to endorse a candidate.
And the answer is no.
Unlike other newspapers, we speak for a collective audience. While operated by only 15 paid editors and about 60 reporters, The Lantern strives to be “The student voice of Ohio State.”
The student voice of OSU is diverse. With 60,000 students, there is no single ringing voice that advocates for a single candidate, ideology, political party or philosophy. There are thousands of voices that tell of experiences so defining, and no two are the same. It’s doubtful that any two of these voices would have the exact same political beliefs.
So we are actively choosing not to endorse anyone.
OSU is the largest public university in what is being called the most important state in the election. That’s a lot of power.
The Lantern staff isn’t going to tell you who to vote for, we just hope you inform yourself on the issues and vote.