Readers frequently ask The Gazette to endorse a specific candidate. Unlike most newspapers, The Gazette avoids candidate endorsements.

The non-endorsement practice was instilled by company founder R.C. Hoiles, who developed a political philosophy of small "L" libertarianism that advocates limited government, respect for the individual, free markets, free trade and property rights. He fearlessly criticized powerful institutions and practices that many take for granted - public schools, taxation, government borrowing - and stood up for civil liberties, free speech and religious liberty.

He believed, simply put, that a newspaper's endorsement of a candidate amounts to an endorsement of a political system that too often is a concentrated application of force, wielded by a majority or a party or an incumbent to deny an individual's freedom rather than protect it and grow it. And, a candidate's future behavior is hardly predictive - even if the candidate has a track record of votes and a well-articulated philosophy. Who would have guessed that "conservative" George W. Bush would become the biggest government expansionist and spender since LBJ?

When a newspaper endorses, it can become invested in that candidate and his or her success. Does an endorsement make the institution less critical of the candidate when he or she wins? It might.

For all those reasons, The Gazette does not endorse candidates, but it does hold their stated values and issue positions up to the political values we write about on the Opinion pages day in and day out. And that may give voters some glimpse into whether individual freedom will advance or retreat under a certain candidate.