Fake Endorsements Better Than the Real Ones

What do you do if you are Republican running in a tough election year? Voters are unhappy with the state of the economy. How does a member of the GOP prove his love of working people. Why by making up union endorsements.

Transport Workers Union Local 291 and Longshoremen's Association Local 1922 bothe told the Miami Herald they did not endorse Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Which is easy to believe. Both unions are affiliated with the Democrat-leaning AFL-CIO.

Though the transport workers have considered Diaz-Balart ''our friend in Congress for the past 15 years,'' Clarke said, they and the longshoremen's local went along with the Florida AFL-CIO, which voted last week to endorse Diaz-Balart's Democratic rival, former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez. The union is also backing two other congressional challengers -- Joe Garcia, who is running against Diaz-Balart's brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, and Annette Taddeo, who is trying to oust Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Why do political candidates keep making these endorsements up? It is easy to fact-check and makes the candidates look dishonest when the truth comes out. Democratic candidate Raul Martinez's people are hammering Diaz-Balart with this.

But a spokesman for Martinez said Diaz-Balart owes the two unions an apology.

''You do not say you have an endorsement unless you have an endorsement,'' said Jeff Garcia. ``We got the endorsements, we worked our tails off. He's wrong, he lied, he needs to apologize.''

It's stupid to get busted on something like this. People aren't going to stampede the polls (especially in Florida) for the endorsements of two unions. Voters do read the news and will wonder if Diaz-Balart handled the endorsement dishonesty or incompetently.