The Endorsement Parade/Charade

Endorsements continued to flood into Obama Central. What everyone talks about on TV is how all these newspapers that endorsed George Bush are coming out for Obama and warning voters away from McCain-Palin. Many, in fact, said it would have been a much tougher call for them had McCain not demonstrated such abysmal judgment by selecting Palin. The argument from the Anchorage Daily News is the worst slap in the face yet. They wave the state flag enthusiastically and acknowledge how thrilled many Alaskans are to have one of their own considered for the vice presidency. But then they take a step back and look at which one of their own.

Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency-- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.

...Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.

And no one should understand that better than Alaskans. But in her short, tumultuous time on the national stage, Palin has not endeared herself to Americans looking for a serious approach to serious problems our society is facing, serious problems brought on by basic concepts of Republican governance still wholeheartedly embraced by McCain and, as much as she understands them, Palin. Connecticut's Hartford Courant has been around when the tsars still ruled Alaska as part of the Russian Empire. In their 244 year history they had only endorsed one Democrat for president-- until today.

The times cry out for a leader of Mr. Obama's mettle. Americans have suffered through years of losses, from the nearly 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11, 2001, through the more than 4,000 American troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the tens of thousands wounded. More than a million people have lost their homes through foreclosure. Economists are warning that the United States is facing the gravest economic threat since the Great Depression.

Republican Sen. John McCain has failed to persuade us he could wake the nation from this seven-year nightmare... his judgment has been questionable of late, impulsive and off-key, especially his almost panicky announcement that he would suspend campaigning and perhaps postpone one of only three presidential debates to attend to Wall Street bailout legislation. That performance was apparently for show.

Most worrisome, however, is Mr. McCain's choice of a running mate, Sarah Palin, who is not yet ready for prime time. With so many capable people to choose from, Mr. McCain's pick of a governor with such a thin resume was disappointing.

According to Editor & Publisher, as of today, Obama has garnered 160 endorsements and McCain has gotten 59, a 3-1 margin. Three dozen are newspapers that had endorsed Bush in 2004, like powerhouses the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, the Denver Post, the Salt Lake Tribune, and the Houston Chronicle.

Even Lindsey Graham, who was tasked with "vetting" Palin (great job, Miss Thing!), admitted today that he thought Lieberman should have been the VP pick! And in the same issue of the one of the worst of the nominal Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- or in this case, the cloddish neo-Con wing-- Michael O'Hanlon, has tried jumping on the Obama freight train. This is one of the more repulsive Inside the Beltway blowhards who fluffed Bush every step of the and could have easily wound up as a member of Democrats For McCain. His whiny and tepid endorsement for Obama Joe Biden today should be rejected.

If you have spent the last 8 years living on Pluto and arrived back last night and watched TV this morning, you probably came away thinking McCain is running against George Bush (and, if you decided to catch up by reading certain newspapers instead of watching TV, that Palin is running against McCain). Well... anyone who was stuck up on Pluto, or even the moon, should probably watch this short clip just to remind you that there is no daylight between Bush and McCain on most of the tragic Bush agenda, and certainly none on economic matters:




UPDATE: ANOTHER BIG TIME REPUBLICAN BACKS OBAMA OVER McCAIN

Larry Pressler (R-SD) and John McCain served in the U.S. Senate at the same time and Pressler, a fellow Republican, has had many opportunities, as the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, to see the erratic and volatile McCain in action. Pressler was the first Vietnam vet to be elected to the Senate. Until a few days ago he had never voted for a Democrat in his life but he's already voted for Obama and donated to his campaign.

"I just got the feeling that Obama will be able to handle this financial crisis better, and I like his financial team of [former Treasury Secretary Robert] Rubin and [former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul] Volcker better," he said. By contrast, John McCain's "handling of the financial crisis made me feel nervous... We have to be a moderate party. We can't be for all these foreign military adventures. We have to stop spending so much money. My God, the deficit is so high! The Republican Party I knew in the 1970s is just all gone."