80-20 Initiative - Endorsement of Presidential Candidates

Endorsement of Presidential Candidates

80-20 holds its Endorsement Convention in the year of a Presidential election, after candidates for both the Republican and Democratic Party have been determined. Each delegate to the convention is an unpaid volunteer who pledges in writing to advocate for 80-20’s endorsed candidate. The delegates are one third each of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, all elected by dues-paying members, to ensure an objective nonpartisan deliberation.

In the 2004 and 2008 elections, 80-20’s main criterion for endorsement was the response to 80-20’s Questionnaire by the Presidential candidates. In both years, while the Democratic candidates for President answered 80-20’s questionnaire with all affirmative responses (after 80-20 revised the questions by request of the candidates), the Republican candidates did not respond to the questionnaire at all. 80-20 had initially issued a "call to action" to defeat Obame, citing "almost farcical reasons why he would not reply to OUR questionnaire". The call to action has since been deleted from the organization's sites.

80-20 has endorsed the Democratic candidate in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 presidential elections.