endorsements part one

Could be that newspaper endorsements will be more important this year, if the election hinges on undecideds who are interested, and on turnout of newly registered voters who need lots of reinforcement. The weekend round saw these for Kerry, plus the Oregonian ( which endorsed Bush in 2000), both Seattle dailies, Detroit Free Press and Arizona Daily Star, which makes East, West, South, Southwest and Midwest represented:

The Atlanta Journal Constitution: "It's time to give competence a chance."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Based on his record, President George W. Bush has not earned re-election. He has mishandled the war on terrorism, shut his eyes to disagreeable facts, left the next generation in hock and presided over a sharp loss in jobs, health insurance and prosperity for millions of Americans."

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Bush's "was a presidency of high promise that lapsed into multiple disasters. On his watch, useful surpluses have become a sea of red ink... His plan for a second term is not to repair those mistakes, but to expand and entrench them... Most worrisome, his response to the stunning blows of 9/11 has gone fatefully awry. He has left Americans less safe than they could be and America less admired than it should be."