FAQs about FWIW -- and how you can use this site to help your campaign

This is a post I revise and trot out at least once in every election cycle. This post is specifically addressed to persons thinking of running for judge in Cook County in 2022, their friends, business associates, and relations. Knowing this stuff will help you can take advantage of this site and maximize your visibility.

That said, if using this site is your media strategy, get another strategy. But, just as corn flakes can be part of a balanced breakfast, this site can be part of a solid campaign effort. ("Solid" meaning that it may not happen for you this time, but if you run well, you can build for the future.)

(P.S., A lot of this stuff is already addressed in the this site's Sidebar, so if you forget something, you can find it there.)

1. This is a non-partisan site. I want to cover all candidates running for judge in Cook County. Because Democratic candidates have historically enjoyed such tremendous success in this county, most of the posts here will be about candidates in the Democratic primary. But I will gladly cover any Republican candidates, too. If a candidate has a website, I will link to it and post another link in the Sidebar.
   
2. This site does not make endorsements. I realize no one cares who I would vote for. I reserve the right to talk about what I look for in judges, and what I have seen in 40+ years of practice -- in general terms -- in future posts.
   
   In past election cycles I have given candidates the opportunity to make their own case (click here to bring up posts written by judicial candidates in prior campaigns). I plan to do this again; expect an announcement around the first of the year.
   
   I believe the best candidates will distinguish themselves when as much information about all candidates as possible is presented for the voters' consideration. In addition to bar evaluations, I will report newspaper endorsements (if they're made) or community group or union endorsements (when I can verify them). All of this stuff will be collected in Organizing the Data posts (explained more, below) as the primary date comes closer.
3. I want to publicize candidates' events. I'm happy to put up information about candidate fundraisers. I will cheerfully publicize other candidate events as well. (Organizers of candidate forums are strongly encouraged to contact me so I can promote their events, too.) If a candidate wants to promote a speaking engagement or a morning handing out flyers at the 95th Street Red Line Station or the Jefferson Park Blue Line Station, I'll run that, too. I will try and include photographs if the candidate or his or her campaign provides them. I make no promises or warranties in this regard, however; sometimes, real life may intervene and I won't be able to keep up with the flow of items.
   
   Please note: I can't possibly find out about all candidate events on my own. That means I rely on candidate requests for publicity. Every campaign cycle it's the same: I'll hear from some campaigns ten times or more; there will probably be others that I'll never hear from once. That does not mean I'm playing favorites; I'm merely responding to the email I receive.
   
   Pay attention to this one in particular: I generally will not report a candidate's bar ratings until the CBA and the Alliance release their findings. This will not happen until late in the primary season, after every candidate has had the opportunity to be evaluated. I wish these groups had a rolling release policy for their ratings -- but they don't. I hear complaints from judicial campaigns in every election cycle about this. But the bar associations believe that the mass release of candidate ratings, around the time that early voting begins, helps to maximize the impact of those ratings on the voting public. Meanwhile, candidates can, and do, post bar ratings on their campaign websites as soon as they get some favorable ratings to talk about. And I will link to the websites. So, for now, look there.
4. Judicial candidates and committees do not pay for posts appearing on this site. I do not book the Google ads that appear on this page, and you may sometimes see candidate ads in those spaces, but I personally do not accept candidate ads. (I do accept ads from persons or companies looking to offer products or services to judicial candidates; see this post or the site Sidebar for additional information.)
   
   In this very early stage of the election cycle, judicial election posts on FWIW are read primarily by candidates, their supporters, persons who are thinking about running for judge in the future, and persons who hope to provide goods or services to candidates. A lot of judges tell me that they visit here regularly; so do persons affiliated with the various bar association judicial evaluation committees. As the primary date draws closer, this site will be increasingly visited by citizens trying to make informed voting decisions. The information that I have collected here, post by post, will be 'packaged' for the voters. Candidates may want to look at past Organizing the Data posts to get a feel for the kind of information has been collected and posted in the past. I'm always looking to enhance the functionality of this site and I reserve the right to make any improvements within my abilities.
5. I am a lawyer, not a professional journalist. However, since nearly all professional journalists insist on ignoring judicial elections, I do the best I can. Having run for judge twice myself (in 1994 and 1996) I appreciate just how little opportunity judicial candidates have to get their credentials before the public. I do try to present candidates in the best possible light, at least in my initial post about any given campaign. However, I reserve the right to fact-check information provided, to add information I've discovered on my own, to combine or even ignore duplicative releases. In short, I reserve the right to edit my own page.
   
6. Comments on this site are 'moderated.' This means I read any comment that anyone cares to leave and I decide whether or not it will get posted. I do not automatically exclude anonymous comments, but I'd greatly prefer you leave a name. I will, however, block "attack" comments, especially from anonymous commenters.
   
   I understand that we are here on the Internet and there is an expectation, for better or worse, that all Internet commentary should be freewheeling and even pungent. But I disagree and this is my site. I also reserve the right to be inconsistent on this.
   

One final suggestion: Use this site as a force-multiplier. I will often put up a Tweet about a post I run here. Occasionally, I put links on Facebook or LinkedIn as well. But that's me plugging my site. If I put up a post about your campaign, you will want to tweet it out, too, or put it on Facebook, or Bill Belichick's "Snapface" or "Instachat," and encourage your friends and family to do so, too. If you don't know how, ask your kids. Good luck, everyone.