Local columns can bring insight to presidential race

But I enjoyed publishing something from a Whatcom County resident who had at least a bit of insider knowledge and one-on-one experience with one of the national candidates.

You will notice that we don't often publish columns on national issues in this newspaper. We are a local newspaper focused on the needs and issues of Whatcom County. Our columns are all written inside the state of Washington. Those that don't focus on Whatcom County issues focus on statewide issues that have a direct local impact on Whatcom County citizens or educate about statewide issues.

Still, I am well aware in a presidential election year that many people are focused solely on the decision about who to elect as president and vice president. Voting trends always bear that out, with the percentage of registered voters who cast ballots always higher in a presidential election year.

So I want to make it clear that our newspaper is very open to publishing more columns on the national race by those who offer unique and personal insights into the candidates, as James did.

If any Whatcom County resident knows of, or has met, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Joe Biden or Gov. Palin or has worked for those candidates in some way that offers you insights into how they might govern, I'd love to hear from them. Perhaps that is a stretch with three of the candidates representing Illinois, Arizona and Delaware, respectively. Perhaps it's too much to hope for that we have local people well-versed and familiar with those men. Though I hope our community's connections with Alaska might bring more thoughts from those who know of Gov. Palin's record there.

In any case, I want to be clear that during this presidential campaign, our door is open to publishing more pieces like the one we published last week.

We are not interested in just publishing random thoughts from supporters of particular candidates about why they should or should not be supported in column form. We have letters to the editor to allow for that kind of discussion.

But if you have inside knowledge of one of the candidates and can share some insight into how they work and what their strong and weak points might be, I would be more than happy to allow you the space to write a column sharing that knowledge with the citizens of Whatcom County through this newspaper.

Drop me a line via e-mail at scott.ayers@bellinghamherald.com if you want to talk more about that possibility.

SLOW TIMES FOR LETTERS

Speaking of letters to the editor, we are currently experiencing a slower flow of letters for publication. I know that will change as the November general election gets closer.

But as I always do during these late-summer slowdowns, I want to publicly extend an invitation to interested authors to write now. This is a great time to get your thoughts heard by our community with little delay between the time you send us the letters and the time they are published. Depending on the day you send it in, you can currently expect to see your letter published within three or four days of sending them to us. Once election season kicks into high gear and supporters of all candidates start to weigh in, that delay can be a week or more.

If you have an idea you want to share, send your letter via e-mail to letters@bellinghamherald.com. Or mail it to The Bellingham Herald Letters, P.O. Box 1277, Bellingham, WA, 98227.

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