Newspaper Endorsements Surging to Kerry
From Editor and Publisher:
Sen. John Kerry continued his raid on newspapers that backed President Bush in 2000, grabbing 22 new “flip-flops,” plus The Washington Post, which was a major supporter of the war in Iraq. The Democrat has now won endorsements from at least 33 papers that went for Bush in 2000, while Bush has earned only two Gore papers.However, Bush got a prize in the key state of Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch.
Kerry now leads Bush 122-69 in endorsements in E&P’s exclusive tally, and he leads by about 14.9 million to 8.9 million in the circulation of backing papers.
These endorsements have been breaking Kerry’s way since the beginning, although admittedly many of them are as anti-Bush as they are pro-Kerry. Still, it’s rather surprising how many that went for Bush have now switched and are going for Kerry. Despite the E&P emphasis on the Ohio paper going for Bush, included among those endorsing Kerry are several in battleground states, including the Orlando Sentinel in Florida, which wrote: “This president has utterly failed to fulfill our expectations. We turn now to his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, with the belief that he is more likely to meet the hopes we once held for Mr. Bush.”
Other key papers switching from Bush to Kerry include Allentown Morning Call in Pennsylvania, the Quad City Times in Davenport, Iowa, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, The Sun and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin in Washington, the Wausau Daily Herald in Wisconsin, the Billings Gazette in Montana, and the Bangor Daily News in Maine.
You think the newspaper endorsements are something- check out:
http://www.amconmag.com/2004_11_08/cover1.html
or
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=RmBYA0k7uefylrJS0J4CXx%3D%3D .
The first is American Conservative Magazine, the second is The New Republic.
Both are very conservative publications, and both endorse Kerry for President over Bush. They make their cases for different reasons; ACM basically says that Bush is horrible because he’s so against the core, bedrock values that conservatives (basically fiscal conservatives) hold dear; TNR’s case is that Bush has done a horrible job on the very things he claims to have done a good job on, and that Kerry is at least honest and will do better.
What’s remarkable is how both magazines, which are bastions of true “keep the govt out of our lives” and “fiscally responsible” old-school conservatism, so totally agree that Bush is NOT a conservative.
“Conservative” in American politics has become a weird label, just as “liberal” has become something other than what its classic sense is.
“Liberal” now seems to be a codeword for someone who wants to tax people who work and give all the money to (minority) welfare moms to keep having (minority) babies who’ll perpetuate the cycle. “Liberal” seems to mean someone who doesn’t believe in the Constitution of the United States, who wants to give up our right to self-govern to the UN. “Liberal” seems to mean someone who hates religion, hard work, classic family values, and traditional things that have made America a great nation.
Likewise, “conservative” no longer means someone who thinks that the government which governs least governs best; “conservatives” these days have no problem with a government getting involved in people’s lives if it has to do with abortion or school prayer. Today’s “conservatives” think that ANY taxes are evil, but don’t appear to have any problem racking up billions of dollars of debt and passing that debt along to their children and grandchildren (hey, why not- they’re making such fortunes today that those kids will be taken care of, especially since they’ve killed the estate taxes). Today’s “conservatives” have no problem packing American trooops off to fight wars in foreign lands whether there’s any critical need or justification for it, or a true threat to America.
I think that ACM and TNR are lost voices. I disagree with a lot of their points, but I find it remarkable that so many people have come to the conclusion that Kerry (or at least notBush) is the man for President.
Paul
Enumclaw, WA