The New York Daily News has endorsed Obama for President. From the endorsement:
Millions of Americans vest great hope in Barack Obama – and there is good reason why. It has been a long time since many have felt the government was in their corner. And here came an accomplished, fresh figure – a black man, at that – with plans for restoring the faith.
The agenda is sweeping, but the theme is clear. Whether on tax fairness or health care or the cost of college, Obama pushes the balance toward the working and middle classes and those further down the ladder.
To be sure, this endorsement is filled with praise for McCain and questions for Obama. But in the end, the Daily News comes to this:
In sum, we are banking on practicality trumping political dogma in an Obama White House. The fantasy that the U.S. can move toward energy independence without fully committing to domestic drilling and nuclear power must be banished. The reality that America can’t make strides toward universal health care without fiscal discipline elsewhere must sink in.
At this critical juncture, the nation must elect a President who will renew bipartisanship and hard-headed pragmatism to rescue America’s standard of living, secure the country from global threats, whether of arms or of climate, and lay a foundation to meet 21st century challenges.
That is our hope for Barack Obama.
Endorsements have also come from The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer , and The Oregonian in Portland. This brings the editorial endorsement tally to about 66 Obama v. 18 McCain. The Editor & Publisher says the NYT should be endorsing Obama tomorrow. Not shocking, no? Colin Powell is scheduled to be on Meet the Press in the morning and rumor’s been circulating for days that he may endorse, as well. We’ll see.