Many Newspapers Endorsing Bush In 2004 Now Pick Obama
Editor & Publisher (E&P) has just posted its most recent tally of presidential newspaper endorsements and Barack Obama still holds a better than 2-1 margin over John McCain with 194 publications endorsing the Democratic nominee for president while 82 believe the country needs four more years of George W. Bush's policies.
What's even more telling to me is the sheer number of newspapers that endorsed Bush for a second term in 2004 and that now see fit to draw the line at McCain and urge their readers to vote for Obama on November 4th.
According to E&P, "at least 38 papers have now switched to Obama from Bush in 2004, with just four flipping to McCain" and these include such high-circulation dailies as the Long Beach Press Telegram, Denver Post, Hartford Courant, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and the Houston Chronicle.
"Republicans love to mock Obama's history as a community organizer," wrote the Denver Post in its endorsement. "But here was a man with no money to offer, no patronage to dispense, no way to punish his opponents. All he could do was to work with people from all walks of life, liberals and conservatives, business people and the unemployed, and bring them together in common cause for a better community. Could there really be better preparation to reunite a worried and divided America to again pursue our 'more perfect union?'"
The New Haven Register agreed that McCain would be nothing more than a third Bush term and blasted the choice of Sarah Palin to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.
"There is too much truth to be ignored in the Democrats' charge that electing McCain would mean, in effect, a third term for the failed policies of the Bush administration," offered The Register's editorial board, adding "McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate is confirmation of that fear. The governor of Alaska is utterly unqualified to be next in line as president of the United States. Her selection was a purely political choice, without regard to the national interest."
And the Houston Chronicle praised Obama's personal qualities and his ability to stay focused while under unrelenting negative attacks from the McCain-Palin ticket.
"He's thoughtful and analytical. He has met his opponents' attacks with calm and reasoned responses. Viewers of the debates saw a poised, well-prepared plausible president with well-articulated positions on the bread-and-butter issues that poll after poll indicate are the true concerns of voters. While Arizona Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have struck an increasingly personal and negative tone in their speeches, Obama has continued to talk about issues of substance."
E&P adds a final note that bodes well for the Obama-Biden team next Tuesday: The Democratic ticket holds an incredibly lopsided lead over the Republicans when, at a similar point in the 2004 election, John Kerry was barely in front of Bush for newspaper endorsements.
Is it November 4th yet?
What's even more telling to me is the sheer number of newspapers that endorsed Bush for a second term in 2004 and that now see fit to draw the line at McCain and urge their readers to vote for Obama on November 4th.
According to E&P, "at least 38 papers have now switched to Obama from Bush in 2004, with just four flipping to McCain" and these include such high-circulation dailies as the Long Beach Press Telegram, Denver Post, Hartford Courant, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and the Houston Chronicle.
"Republicans love to mock Obama's history as a community organizer," wrote the Denver Post in its endorsement. "But here was a man with no money to offer, no patronage to dispense, no way to punish his opponents. All he could do was to work with people from all walks of life, liberals and conservatives, business people and the unemployed, and bring them together in common cause for a better community. Could there really be better preparation to reunite a worried and divided America to again pursue our 'more perfect union?'"
The New Haven Register agreed that McCain would be nothing more than a third Bush term and blasted the choice of Sarah Palin to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.
"There is too much truth to be ignored in the Democrats' charge that electing McCain would mean, in effect, a third term for the failed policies of the Bush administration," offered The Register's editorial board, adding "McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate is confirmation of that fear. The governor of Alaska is utterly unqualified to be next in line as president of the United States. Her selection was a purely political choice, without regard to the national interest."
And the Houston Chronicle praised Obama's personal qualities and his ability to stay focused while under unrelenting negative attacks from the McCain-Palin ticket.
"He's thoughtful and analytical. He has met his opponents' attacks with calm and reasoned responses. Viewers of the debates saw a poised, well-prepared plausible president with well-articulated positions on the bread-and-butter issues that poll after poll indicate are the true concerns of voters. While Arizona Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have struck an increasingly personal and negative tone in their speeches, Obama has continued to talk about issues of substance."
E&P adds a final note that bodes well for the Obama-Biden team next Tuesday: The Democratic ticket holds an incredibly lopsided lead over the Republicans when, at a similar point in the 2004 election, John Kerry was barely in front of Bush for newspaper endorsements.
Is it November 4th yet?
posted by Bob Geiger at 10/27/2008 01:44:00 PM
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