 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, Rudy Guiliani, John Edwards, Mitt Romney, maybe Al Gore, and quite possibly the guy from the TV show "Law & Order." What do these people all have in common? One of them could be sworn in as the next President of the United States in January 2009. This means another presidential election is upon us, and as evidenced by the intense media coverage thus far, it's clear that the nominating process has begun in earnest much earlier than in past campaign cycles. As such, there is no better time than the present to brush-up on ANA's level of participation during presidential elections. Presidential endorsements provide the best opportunity to educate members about the political process and to encourage political participation among nurses, while also demonstrating an organization's political power and ability to accomplish its legislative and regulatory goals. To this end, ANA has endorsed a candidate in each presidential election since 1984. ANA continues to follow the 1985 House of Delegates (HOD) resolution directing the Association to engage presidential contenders of all parties in endorsement considerations. As the Resolution mandates, ANA's presidential endorsements are made according to a very deliberate, non-partisan process, and only after careful consideration of a variety of factors which will form the basis of the endorsement criteria, including: candidate positions and past records on nursing and health care issues; candidate viability in the election; the relationship the candidate has with ANA members and staff; and the feedback of individual ANA/CMA members. Accordingly, ANA's Political Action Committee (ANA-PAC) and its Board of Trustees will soon begin the 2008 presidential endorsement process with the explicit purpose of helping to elect a candidate, who, should he or she win the election, will advocate on behalf of ANA's core legislative and regulatory policy agenda. Per the 1985 Resolution, the ANA-PAC Board will work with ANA Government Affairs staff to undertake the necessary steps that will result in an endorsement decision. In past elections, these actions have involved: - conducting an extensive analysis of the political environment to determine if it is in the best interest to the nursing community to award a presidential endorsement; - examining the legislative records, to the extent possible, of all announced candidates in relation to ANA's legislative agenda; - drafting and soliciting responses to a questionnaire gauging the level of each candidate's support for ANA's core policy issues; - polling individual Constituent Member Associations (CMA) and ANA membership for their preferred candidates; - setting up interviews with the ANA President and PAC Board Chair and viable presidential candidates; - and publicizing the voting records and questionnaire responses from each candidate to CMAs and individual members through ANA publications. Upon reaching the conclusion of this process, the PAC Board will present its endorsement recommendation to ANA's Board of Directors, who will then vote to ratify the PAC Board’s decision. It's important to note that the PAC Board's endorsement decision typically represents a choice among three distinct positions: no endorsement or support of a candidate, support one or more candidates during the primary elections, and support of a candidate following the party nominating conventions. By no means will ANA ignore the thoughts and opinions of its individual members and CMAs during the presidential endorsement process. We expect this course of action will be a collaborative and democratic effort, where members and CMA's will be able to voice their personal preferences for the next President of the United States. Ultimately, ANA will use its professional judgment in choosing a candidate who will do the most to advance the interests of nurses while serving in the White House. ANA realizes that endorsing a particular presidential candidate will undoubtedly elicit strong feelings and emotions within the ANA membership. ANA is fortunate to have an informed and diverse membership base, with well-rounded views on a number of issues. Thus, ANA recognizes that as voters, individual members consider other factors - such as the economy, national and homeland security, and education - in personally deciding which candidate to support. However, as a professional organization ANA must consider candidates based solely on who will best serve the interests of the nursing profession and their patients. Political parties or personal agendas will not matter in this process. And no political support will be offered by ANA without thoughtful analysis of a candidate's past record and views on nursing - and these concerns only. Be sure to visit ANA's Government Affairs Website, www.anapoliticalpower.org, in the coming months for more information regarding the 2008 presidential election and to track ANA's endorsement process. ANA urges all members to get involved politically to ensure that nurses’ voices are heard during this campaign season. For questions and additional information please contact gova@ana.org. |