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[For months, I have been urging and coaching and doing free editing to help Obama supporters write letters to the Editor: to see this latest blast of endorsements reaffirms my faith both in independent and discerning American Editorial Pages and the strength of my tactics, but above all, the intelligence, compassion, and coolness of our best candidate, Obama, who has convinced hundreds of millions of American he is the right choice now! - Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News]
DENVER POST: How we decided
By Dan Haley
Article Last Updated:
Up until late this week, our editorial board was torn over our presidential endorsement. Just like Colorado, we were divided neatly between Barack Obama and John McCain.
We had many of the same conversations in our board room that many of you have had over your own kitchen tables or in coffee shops or at cocktail
parties.
Obama is too inexperienced. McCain's health care plan is a disaster.
Neither man has articulated a clear plan for the economy. Obama won't say
what programs he'll cut given the economic crisis, while McCain still thinks
he can balance the budget through tax cuts and lucky charms.
Sarah Palin isn't qualified to be president. Joe Biden is a blooper waiting
to happen.
Of course, we even had a few nice things to say about the candidates, but
being skeptics, we often gravitated back to the negatives.
That seems to be where we are as a nation, too: the negatives. Maybe Obama can change that. I have my doubts. But wouldn't it be nice?
Anyway, as you can see, we eventually found ourselves at Barack Obama.
"Typical left-wing Denver Post," many of you will mutter. Others may be
surprised. Since we endorsed George W. Bush in 2004, many readers have
assumed, according to the e-mails we still receive, that we're in the pocket
of Republicans. (They forget, or just don't know, that we actually endorsed
Al Gore in 2000.)
The Post is an independent newspaper that doesn't care what's good for
Republicans or what's good for Democrats. We owe nothing to either party.
Today, with our endorsement of Obama, we lean further to the left than my
own personal compass. But it's where the majority of our board is, and
that's OK.
We know our endorsement is likely to anger about, oh, 47 percent of the
people in Colorado. And that's OK, too.
Endorsements are meant to stoke a public dialogue.
