Between this Sunday and next, I expect to see most major newspapers come out with endorsements for either Kerry or Bush. I'm going to spend the next hour or so cruising the major newspaper sites, but my "hometown" paper (not really, but it's the closest big city paper) came out for John Kerry today in a very strongly worded endorsement:
Philadelphia Inquirer:
The choice is vivid. The stakes are vast.The Oregonian:
Our nation is threatened by jihad warriors who scoff at boundaries. It stumbles toward a fiscal ruin that will punish our children. The rules that protect our air, water and health are weaker than we know. When 45 million of our neighbors fall ill, they have no insurance card to hand to the doctor.
We boast of exporting liberty and rule of law, yet watch them erode at home. A hooded prisoner on a box has replaced a soaring lady with a lamp as the global icon of America's intentions. Our national discourse has grown peevish, choking on distortion and bile.
On Nov. 2, we can return to office the man who, since 2001, has spawned some of those ills and shown a shaky touch at healing the others.
Or we can go a new way, one alert to fresh global challenges yet rooted in the approaches that made the 1990s so productive. We can elect Democratic nominee John F. Kerry.
Dear fellow citizen, this is as important an election as any in which you've had a chance to vote.
The Inquirer's urgent, deeply felt recommendation: Cast that ballot on Nov. 2 for JOHN F. KERRY...(more)
...When George W. Bush took office in a deeply divided nation, he promised to reach out to unite the country. If anything, he has helped make the rifts deeper. That may be his real failure as president.
John Kerry can do better. (more)
Portland Press-Herald:
With four members of the U.S. Supreme Court over the age of 70, the next president is likely to have the opportunity to shape its ideological framework for years to come. This has many implications and one issue especially stands out: President Bush is committed to appointing justices willing to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that underpins abortion rights.
Reversal of Roe would harm the reproductive rights of women, of course, but could also drive abortion services underground, making it unsafe for those who choose exercise this right. The person best qualified to decide whether to have an abortion is the woman who is pregnant. The candidate most likely to protect that right to choose is Kerry.
Like his opponent, John Kerry has the skills and the experience to be commander in chief. He also has an agenda that would serve Americans better than that of his opponent. For that reason, he merits our endorsement for president. (more)
Charlottesville Cavalier Daily:
...Particularly troubling about Bush's convictions is the blind eye he is willing to turn in order to satisfy his ideological framework. Teenagers shouldn't be having sex? Then abstinence education is the only feasible option. No WMDs in Iraq? We're spreading democracy in the Middle East. Thankfully, Kerry is worldly enough to recognize that one person's motives should not be guiding science, reproductive choices or international relations. (more).
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
There's an unusual urgency to the electoral process this year, reflected in higher attendance at campaign rallies, record viewership of presidential debates and soaring voter registration, not to mention an increase in heated debates over the dinner table. Americans across the political spectrum recognize that the next four years will be a difficult time in our nation's history, and that the leadership we choose will set our course for many years to come.I don't know that, in this electronic day and age, newspaper endorsements mean all that much to the average person. However, editorial board recommendations tend to be a barometer of local thinking - if you think about it, what editor wants to piss off the majority of their sponsors and readership?
And as always when a president is running for re-election, the main issue will be the record of the incumbent, President George W. Bush, and what it suggests about his leadership in a potential second term. Unfortunately, that record is grounds for grave concern...(more)
Anyway, if you find a ringing Kerry endorsement from a leading newspaper today, make a note of it in the comments and we'll hook it up.
