The Daily Gamecock will not be endorsing candidates in the 2016 Republican, Democratic and Libertarian primaries. The likelihood of coming to a meaningful staff consensus on these issues is small, and that is definitely not a bad thing. Diversity in political views makes this campus and nation stronger rather than weaker.
Because of this guiding principle, the Opinion editors have decided to highlight every major candidate running in the Republican or Democratic South Carolina primaries, as well as a few politicians running for third party nominations or planning independent bids. Starting in the February 9 paper and continuing through the state's Republican primary, we will run one column per candidate laying out the case to vote for them. These will be written both by staff columnists and other students on campus.
During this time, normal columns will be suspended or reduced in frequency on this page, although they will continue to be posted online on the weekends. Letters to the Editor related to the Student Government elections and non-primary events will also be printed as they are received.
We are still in search of students enthusiastic about the candidacies of Jim Gilmore and Chris Christie. If you are a supporter of any of them and would like to write in to voice your support, please email tdgview@gmail.com for more information. Please report any ties to the official campaigns of any candidate.
We would like to thank the College Republicans and College Democrats for their assistance in coordinating these columns.