Obama Newspaper Endorsements In Key States

We can see the polls showing that Barack Obama is leading John McCain in major battleground states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, but endorsements from local and regional newspapers also do a lot to sway voters making a last-minute decision. Take a look at some newspapers urging their readers over the weekend to vote for Obama on November 4.

Dayton Daily News

But in a time of change, Sen. Obama is the more promising leader. With his agile mind, often pitch-perfect judgment and preternatural calm and self-confidence, he seems built for the job of sorting through this thing, if anybody can. The nation faces a choice that looks more and more like a choice between the future and the past. It has never been one to shrink from the future.

Toledo Blade

We believe the person best equipped by temperament and intellect to firmly grasp the reins of government and guide it safely forward in these uncertain times is Barack Obama.
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Sen. John McCain, by nature, has shown himself to be incapable of providing the American people with an optimistic vision of the future. Firmly rooted in the failed politics and policies of the past, he cannot guide us on a path he does not see.

Senator Obama already has demonstrated that he is a man of the future in the way he has inspired a new generation of voters to become involved in the political process and to actively strive for a better tomorrow.

As a president from another era suggested, Americans should ask themselves: Am I better off than I was eight years ago? Four years ago? The answer is obvious and, therefore, the option on Nov. 4 is clear.

Historically, Ohio has had a critical role in presidential elections and appears poised once again to be a key in deciding who sits in the Oval Office for the next four years. This is an awesome responsibility, and one that cannot be taken lightly. For the future of Ohio and America, there is only one reasonable choice for president: Barack Obama.

Springfield (OH) News Sun

It's time for a change and that change cannot be delivered by the Republican candidate who has voiced no real split with the policies of the Bush years.

The News-Sun Editorial Board is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama as the best hope for the nation to return to prosperity and to regain its standing in the world.

Obama is clearly a smart, caring, committed candidate for the job of president. His detractors call him an elitist. A good education, a tendency to analyze problems and the ability to speak in complete sentences are hardly bad qualities to have in a president. Bringing peace to the Middle East or fixing a national economy are complicated tasks.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

In three weeks, Americans will be called upon to make an exceptional judgment worthy of the times. The forces of history appear to invite boldness and the Post-Gazette believes they should be heeded by voting for the only authentic, fresh agent of change in this race, Barack Obama.
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But this election is not just about the shortcomings of Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin and the failed legacy of a philosophy that they seek to perpetuate under the hastily erected banner of maverick.

It is about the strengths of Barack Obama, whose rise to prominence is not a fluke or national infatuation but the consequence of his remarkable skills -- a keen intellect, noble intentions and the wit and grace to express them in ways that have inspired millions across the country. He has a rare gift exactly suited to the fearful times -- he knows the language of reassurance and hope.

Easton (PA) Express Times

Obama does not win this by default. He wins The Express-Times' endorsement because of his platform, because he has demonstrated a cool head in troubled times, because he inspires confidence and because he is conducting an above-board campaign.

The next president isn't going to be able to deliver on much of anything that requires new spending. He will have to be a deft, recession-fighting strategist, to avoid being this century's Herbert Hoover. He must end the Iraq war. Obama has the firmer timeline and commitment on this.

Wisconsin State Journal

America is at a pivotal point in its history — a difficult time that demands talented leadership to renew our nation's spirit and pull us together to meet the incredible challenges ahead.

The right leader for the time is Barack Obama.

The Wisconsin State Journal endorses the dynamic and youthful senator from Illinois for president.

Far more than his opponent, Obama represents a new direction. He has shown he can inspire and lead people to action. And his relatively short time in corrupt, self-absorbed, terribly-failed Washington, D.C., may actually be a key strength. Obama is not stuck in the status quo of the Capitol crowd or its long-failed Congress.

Obama doesn't just give pretty speeches. He speaks to people's best instincts, encouraging them to shine.

Saint Louis Post Dispatch

Over the past nine months, Mr. Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, has emerged as the only truly transformative candidate in the race. In the crucible that is a presidential campaign, his intellect, his temperament and equanimity under pressure consistently have been impressive. He has surrounded himself with smart, capable advisers who have helped him refine thorough, nuanced policy positions.

In a word, Mr. Obama has been presidential.
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Given the damage that has been done to America’s moral standing in the world in the last eight years — by a preemptory war, a unilateralist foreign policy and by policies that have treated both the Geneva Conventions and our own Bill of Rights as optional — Mr. Obama’s election would help America reclaim the moral high ground.

It also must be said that Mr. Obama is right on the issues. He was right on the war in Iraq. He is right that all Americans deserve access to health care and right in his pragmatic approach to meeting that goal. He is right on tax policy, infrastructure investment, energy policy and environmental issues. He is right on American ideals.

Muskegon (MI) Chronicle

America is deeply troubled today. Our nation is in economic crisis, mired in debt, at war and adrift in a sea of global and domestic turmoil. Citizens are rightly worried about the future, and deeply concerned for their children. Such hard times emphasize the need for the nation's voters to make the right choice for president on Nov. 4.

The Muskegon Chronicle's editorial board believes that individual is Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, whom we endorse today for the highest office in the land.
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Barack Obama will protect our country and its Constitution, which have suffered at the hands of the current administration, and he has chosen an excellent running mate in Delaware's veteran U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, who is ready to step in to serve if need be in the tradition of Harry Truman and Gerald R. Ford.

Obama and Biden have both exhibited coolness, competence and confidence at every turn, reassuring the citizens of our great country that the promised change to come will be for the better. Their measured answers and well-thought-out responses to the difficult issues confronting the United States strike us as conveying the right tone and proper course for the four years ahead.