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The Herald's editorial board is supporting what looks to be the nation's future, but not without serious reservations.
We're often divided on our political recommendations, but never more deeply than in our presidential choice this year.
McCain's supporters among us include Herald Publisher Rufus Friday, who chose not to use his power to overrule the majority.
Friday lived in Illinois when Obama was a member of the state Legislature and didn't see anything in the novice politician to qualify him for the presidency.
And frankly, Obama's career in the U.S. Senate has been undistinguished. The question of experience hasn't been answered to our satisfaction.
Obama's chief asset is his ability to rally and inspire people, especially young people. In the tough times ahead, that may be what America needs most.
He is campaigning on the prospect of change -- in health care, energy policy, the war in Iraq and relief for the beleaguered middle class in a turbulent economy.
We wish he were more enthusiastic on nuclear energy. It is a definite plus for McCain that he is a strong supporter of that clean technology as one of the tools out of our dependence upon Middle Eastern oil.
McCain's plan for reducing health care costs seems rife with the possibility of bureaucratic clumsiness making it even more costly to taxpayers in the end.
George W. Bush's disapproval rating among the American people, as reported by polls, is now the highest on record, 73 percent, and his approval rating at 23 percent is below even the lowest approval rating of Richard Nixon during the Watergate crisis.
Obama has tried to tie McCain to President Bush, but McCain chided him Wednesday night that he should have run against Bush in 2004.
McCain easily listed many votes and positions he has taken against Bush policies.
Our bigger concern is the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Even some conservatives are pointing out the obvious -- she's not qualified for the job.
On immigration, McCain and Obama have similar ideas and position papers.
And on Iraq, McCain mocks Obama for saying the surge in Iraq wouldn't work when time proved that it did. Of course, McCain glosses over the fact that the case for invasion was trumped up by misinformation and subterfuge and that Obama opposed the war from the start.
We think Obama is better prepared to deal with a volcanic economy where experience is proving to count for little.
