Recent political endorsements, whether from notable Democrats or

newspapers, are appearing as frequently as angry accusations among

the candidates.

However, most ISU political groups don’t favor one candidate

over another.

On the home stretch of the Iowa caucuses, presidential

candidates are doing everything they can to woo undecided voters,

including flaunting endorsements from prominent political

figures.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and ex-Sen. Bill Bradley endorsed

former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean; The Des Moines Register endorsed

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Iowa’s First Lady, Christy Vilsack,

endorsed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Yet most ISU political groups will sit on the sidelines — at

least until the Democratic Party announces a candidate. Other

groups won’t even commit to one political party or another.

“We won’t be endorsing any candidate, whether they’re a

Democrat, a Green or a Republican, for that matter,” said Matt

Denner, president of the ISU Student Greens and Daily columnist.

“There’s quite a number of people who do endorse candidates within

the party — I myself endorse John Kerry — but we don’t endorse

anyone as a whole.”

The ISU Greens are among the student political groups that

haven’t played favorites with any of the Democratic presidential

candidates, except the groups that exist to support a candidate,

such as Cyclones for Dean.

The ISU Democrats have also stayed mum on supporting a specific

candidate. Instead, they opted to remain neutral in order to

prevent excluding members who would disagree. Hannah

Schoenthal-Muse, president of the ISU Democrats and senior in

liberal studies, said endorsing one candidate would cause division

among the group.

“Many of us support all the Democratic candidates, not a single

one,” she said. “However, as soon as the Democratic presidential

nominee is announced we’ll be behind them no matter who it is.”

Since the floodgates of endorsements opened last month with

former Vice President Al Gore’s endorsement of Dean, candidates

have increasingly propositioned undecided voters with their

endorsements, especially in debates with candidates. But it’s

questionable whether the endorsements carry enough weight to change

the minds of impressionable voters.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor in political science, said

a typical campaign endorsement normally isn’t significant. However,

due to the crowded field of nine presidential candidates, they

could be the small nudge that turn voters away from one candidate

and toward another this year.

“When it’s a weird year like this and when there are lots of

candidates and many people undecided, the endorsements can help

people understand how political leaders they respect are looking at

the candidates,” he said.

Schmidt said although endorsements are valuable, their power

shouldn’t be exaggerated. They may change the mind of an

impressionable voter, but they likely won’t alter the face of

anybody’s political landscape.

“If somebody really hates Howard Dean, then Tom Harkin’s

endorsement won’t change their mind,” he said. “However, if a

person has narrowed down their choice to three candidates, then a

key endorsement could make the difference.”