(Note: Thanks to Julie at
Red State Rebels for the heads up.)
The Idaho Statesman. The leading paper in the most Republican state in the nation, has endorsed John Kerry for President. A little tepidly, mind you, but an endorsement nonetheless. An excerpt and bit of analysis below the fold.
Kerry promises to bring a more thoughtful approach to difficult problems. He will need a strong team surrounding him. He will need to do something Bush abandoned: make a concerted and continued effort to build coalitions. He will need to grow into the toughest job in the world.
Kerry has not won our confidence. But Bush has lost it.
Bush has made snap decisions. His shoot-from-the-hip style has polarized the nation. He has bulldozed environmental protections and piled up frightening budget deficits. Most critically, he rushed this nation into war in Iraq, costing more than 1,100 U.S. lives and damaging America's image abroad.
The 1,600 Idaho National Guard members preparing to go to Iraq deserve great leadership. So do the 8,000 Idahoans who have lost manufacturing jobs since 2000, the 252,000 Idahoans without insurance, the roughly 250,000 Idaho public school children affected by Bush's No Child Left Behind law. Unfortunately, there is no great candidate on the ballot. We are left dour and divided -- like America.
Iraq: A complicated and flawed decision
Our endorsement comes back to one central issue: Iraq.
Nineteen months ago, we supported Bush's decision to go to war -- not just out of a sense of patriotism, but on the administration's claim that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons.
This president oversimplified the most complex decision of his term, and he got it wrong.
...snip...
It's not easy to endorse against a president who will almost certainly collect Idaho's four electoral votes.
We recognize Bush's finest moments on the job: The president showed remarkable poise and leadership in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and earned all the bipartisan support he received.
Somewhere along the way, however, the man who promised to be a "uniter" took a turn away from common ground. He courted conservatives with deep tax cuts, controversial judicial nominees and his support of a superfluous constitutional amendment on gay marriage. Bush has denounced the partisanship on Capitol Hill as if he were a bystander. The record suggests otherwise.
Can Kerry change this, building coalitions close to home? We hope so. He'll need to. If form holds, Kerry could preside over a Republican Congress next January.
He'd certainly lead a divided country. This nation was split four years ago. This presidency has driven the wedge deeper. The Nov. 2 election will bring Americans together to vote, but this acrimonious campaign has driven many of us a little further apart. That's sad.
In nine days, Americans make their choice. Today, we make our recommendation. With trepidation, it's Kerry.
I noted after a visit to the Boise area a few weeks ago that the fervor displayed for Bush four years ago in the area was notably lacking this fall. You could chalk it up to complacency, but I think it's a bigger problem for Bush--he's losing his non-fundamentalist base; the reality-based community prevails, even in places like Idaho.
That, my friends, is the most encouraging news I've had in weeks.
[Udpate]: See the comment below from brillo including a snippet from the Billings (Montana) Gazette's endorsement. Good news all around!
[Update II]: Add the Washington Tri-City Herald, a traditionally conservative paper in a pretty conservative part of the state. Thanks for that heads up, Jsea (see comments below for link).