And so, yet another major paper in North Carolina decides to endorse Barack Obama for the presidential election. And it's the biggest one in the state. And the Hartford Courant, having endorsed only one Democrat ever in it's 244-year history, will endorse Obama in its Sunday Print Edition.
Not too much of a surprise, but the McClatchy-owned Charlotte Observer endorsed Barack Obama today.
What this means is that Obama has about swept most of the major dailies in the state of North Carolina--McCain has picked up no endorsements by any major paper in the state of North Carolina (that I know of) to date.
Asheville Citizen-Times, The News & Observer (Raleigh), and the Wilmington Star-News already endorsed Obama earlier this month.
Some key highlights:
This choice is complicated by the puzzling election-year disappearance of the Sen. John McCain whom many Americans have admired since his military days, when he might have taken the easy way out of detention to return to America. That he refused to do so is a shining example of heroism. His subsequent Senate service and his independence of thought brought him admirers across party lines who saw in him hope for a government motivated not by partisanship but by a commitment to solving problems involving the best thinkers across the political spectrum.
We don't know what happened to that John McCain. In his pandering to the political right on some issues and his impulsive selection of a woefully unprepared governor as his vice presidential candidate, McCain has created doubts about his judgment that did not previously exist, and exposed how his reputation as a maverick can seem more recklessness than courage. In doing so he has frittered away confidence in his ability to deal with a discouraging array of problems that will confront the next president
In short: where's the John McCain America was drawn to in 2000? I have several different answers to that question, but...really, I'd be preaching to the choir at this point. And notice the continued trend against Sarah Palin in these editorials. Time and again, his selection of her comes up as a key reason against making him president. Meanwhile, you don't hear about Palin at all in most pro-McCain endorsements.
By contrast, Sen. Barack Obama's inexperience in executive matters constitutes less of a concern than ordinarily it might. His intellect, his calm, rational approach to difficult issues, his coolness during the heat of debate and his sense of humor and humility offer something millions of Americans have yearned for in national politics – the ability to examine issues thoughtfully, to listen to competing interests and to develop solutions that more closely meet the needs of all.
That's another theme I've picked up: Obama's calm, steadied approach to crisis. It may well be that, when the books are written, the end of the campaign will be marked at September 24, 2008--the day John McCain spastically suspended his presidential campaign to...be a figurehead in the financial bailout package that failed in the House the following Monday.
So, here's another NC paper with major circulation--even into northern South Carolina--going for Barack Obama. Something tells me...we're about to see a Tarheel Blue NC on November 4th.
HARTFORD COURANT TO ENDORSE OBAMA SUNDAY--3:18am UPDATE
And the Hartford Courant will endorse Obama on Sunday:
The endorsement, to be printed in Sunday's newspaper and released on courant.com at 5 p.m. Saturday, cites Obama's leadership qualities, his can-do message and his calm temperament.
The Courant, the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination in this year's presidential primaries. Bill Clinton is the only Democrat whom the The Courant had previously endorsed for president, in 1992 and 1996, but the editorial board later called for Clinton's resignation after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.