FAQs about FWIW -- and how candidates can use this site to help their campaigns

This is a post I revise and trot out at least once in every election cycle. This post is specifically addressed to persons running for judge in Cook County in 2024, their friends, business associates, and relations. Knowing this stuff will help candidates take advantage of this site and maximize their visibility.

That said, Candidates, 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 will cover all candidates running for judge in Cook County. However, since almost all Cook County judicial candidates run as Democrats, most of the posts here will be about candidates in the Democratic primary. But I will gladly cover any Republican candidates, too, should there be any. Or Greens. Or Libertarians. If any could get on the ballot. 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. It grieves me to admit this, but no one cares who I would vote for. I reserve the right to talk about what I look for in judges, and what I saw in over 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 directly to visiting voters (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.
   
   When as much information about all candidates as possible is presented for the voters' consideration, I believe that the best candidates will stand out. 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 information will be collected in Organizing the Data posts (explained more, below) as the primary date comes closer. (Word of caution, or cynical caveat: The best candidates may not always make the best judges -- but that, too, is a story for a different day.)


3. I want to publicize candidates' events. I'm happy to put up information about candidate fundraisers whenever I know about them. One need not scroll very far down the page here to find examples of this. 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 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. Candidates complain to me about this in every election cycle. I wish the bar associations had a rolling release policy for their ratings -- I raise the issue with the evaluators in every election cycle, both here and privately -- but, so far, to no avail. But the bar associations believe that the mass release of candidate ratings, around the time that early voting begins, maximizes the impact of those ratings on the voting public. Meanwhile, candidates are permitted to, 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.
   
   On the other hand, I am willing to entertain ads from persons or companies looking to offer products or services to judicial candidates. Advertisements -- clearly labeled as such -- will be put up as posts on the blog for a one-time fee. For this election cycle, as in 2022, ads cost $250 each. I reserve the right to edit or reject ad copy or to refuse an ad altogether. Potential advertisers should email me at jackleyhane@yahoo.com for more information.
   
   In this stage of the election cycle, 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 the editor, host, and moderator of this site. 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. But 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. I may not accomodate your schedule, or say things the way you'd prefer I say them. I strive to be fair but, with the exception of the In Their Own Words posts or the occasional guest posts, I edit my site as I see fit.


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, usually flush "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 about the kinds of comments I let through.

One final suggestion: Use this site as a force-multiplier. I will often put up a Tweet (putting up an 'X' sounds wrong to me) 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.