The News & Observer is North Carolina's second largest newspaper, read throughout the Research Triangle area, and in the (more conservative) eastern parts of the state, all the way to the coast. It is seen around here as a left-leaning paper, though I often question that designation while reading the paper. This endorsement is not a surprise, but it sure felt good waking up to the the headline, "It's Obama".
Today, a little more than two weeks from this critically important Election Day, The News & Observer, with pride and hope, in the belief that Obama is exactly what the nation needs at a time when the hills are steep and the winds against us are stiff, enthusiastically endorses him for president. His time has come. And these times have come to him.
In the editorial, The N&O details why Barack Obama is the man to lead us on all the serious issues we are facing, from the economic troubles, to health care, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is a crisis of spirit, and Barack Obama knows it. He has spoken to it with a call for change. His vision is not obscure, and not out of reach. And there is meaning in his words, from his pledge to realize universal health care to his promise to get the United States out of the mire of Iraq honorably, to his plan to restore economic stability and opportunity. His would be a government of thought before deed and of strength given by the people, not just exercised from above.
They also point out the importance and wisdom of his first major decision, the selection of Joe Biden to be his running mate.
With his choice of Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate on the Democratic ticket, Obama made it clear he understood the gravity of that first important decision of any presidential candidate -- to pick someone who could be president. A 35-year veteran of the Senate, Biden is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a skilled and wise legislator. He is supremely experienced.
McCain choice of Sarah Palin is a glaring polarity, bringing into question McCain's decision-making.
The senator reportedly wanted Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent, as his number two, but conservative Republican leaders told him that wouldn't work. Palin was an ill-considered compromise. She has little experience and has displayed an alarming lack of knowledge on national and international issues
The N&O also cites the Iraq war, and the deregulation of the Wall Street, as further evidence of McCain's poor judgement.
The senator is an honorable person, but he is not the president this country needs at such a crisis point in history.
That president is Sen. Barack Obama.
Today seems to be endorsement Sunday in the media. Colin Powell's may be soon to follow later this morning. Though I lost nearly all respect for him after his show at the UN, he has made some effort to regain respect, and many people do still hold him in high regard. I think his endorsement would carry more weight than most of these newspapers.
Either way, it's clear who editorial boards across the nation feel is the right choice. We've just got to make sure the rest of the nation follows suit.