This is a common ploy by newspapers & other media.An interesting notion put forth at the end of Booker Hodges's latest Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder column:
"I believe that the Minneapolis DFL should not endorse candidates in this year's mayoral, 8th, & 5th ward city council races until after the primary. Endorsement in these races would do nothing but divide the community and the party."
Bill Dooley Kenny - Ward 13
They would much prefer that their own editorial endorsement be the major one in the race, instead of the endorsement of several thousand DFL delegates.
The Strib tried this a few years ago, when they refused to publish endorsements (except their own) in the voters guide. If they couldn't stop parties & other groups from making endorsements, they could at least try to keep people from finding out about those endorsements. That didn't last, either.
And this isn't even getting into the discussion of the financial self-interest the media has in encouraging such intra-party battles. Just like their preference for primaries over precinct caucuses -- they sell lots of ads for a primary, but not for precinct caucuses.
Finally, it isn't the endorsement that "divides the party"; that happens when a losing candidate decides to run against the endorsed candidate anyway. If the party was already evenly divided, there would not have been any endorsement, since a super-majority 60% vote is required to endorse. Saying the party endorsement causes the division is rather like saying women in 'provocative' clothes cause rape!
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