Endorsements are heaven-sent, he believes, for voters who need more information and ideas before stepping into the voting booth. They help less informed voters reach a decision.

       The intriguing question arose in the wake of retiring Mayor Albert Vera’s endorsement today of Mr. O’Leary.

       “It is hard to know how helpful it will be,” Mr. Jacobs said. “For informed people who closely follow everything political in this community, the endorsement would be less valuable than it would be for those people not as well informed.”

       Mr. Jacobs, still a young man, served at City Hall from 1976 until 1992. But he scarcely has been less visible in the intervening fourteen years. He knows the personalities and the issues as well as he did back in  the late century.

       Heavily involved in the current campaign, he is working to get Mr. Malsin elected. He also is up to his hips in trying to win passage of Measure V, which represents a thorough reformation of the City Charter.

 
The Coattails Factor

  

        “Endorsements do have benefits,” Mr. Jacobs said. “But in Culver City, voters are independent, as independent as any I can imagine. We have limited coattails here. In fact, I am not sure coattails are a factor.”

.      Thirty years after being elected to office, with the aid of endorsements, Mr. Jacobs said that the worth of endorsements is no more predictable than in the 1970s.

       “Endorsements become more valuable where a voter is uncertain,” he said. “The uncertain persons are likely to look to friends or their favorite elected official, people they respect, to see who they are backing.”

       The weight of the uncertainty factor in Culver City is uncertain.

       “There is no question,” Mr. Jacobs said, with certitude, “that endorsements will translate into votes on Election Day. You just don’t know how many.

       “Seeing a list of supporters is important to many voters. It is to me. I always look to see who is backing a candidate, especially in county, state and national elections, less so in Culver City.”

       As Mr. Jacobs seeks to help shepherd Mr.  Malsin, the candidate with the most endorsements and most lawn signs, to victory, he sends along a cautionary note:

       A profusion of lawn signs is not a dependable yardstick for projecting a result. “Popularity and endorsements don’t always guarantee victory,” said the community’s most experienced politician.

As for the more important matter of steering Mr. Malsin’s election in two and a half weeks, Mr. Jacobs sounded as if he were back on the campaign trail.

       “I am very excited about Scott and his chances,” he said. “He is particularly qualified, by character and by experience. The timing of Scott’s candidacy and the opportunity are very fortuitous for Culver City.”

       Time for a prediction.

       Who will join Mr. Malsin in the victory circle two weeks from Tuesday night at City Hall?