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Shocker from Texas: Houston and Austin Papers--Former Bush Backers--Endorse Obama
By Greg Mitc
Published: October 19, 2008 9:35 AM ET
NEW YORK As chronicled by E&P in recent days, a, overwhelming trend from big city newspapers in editorial endorsements has favored Barack Obama with several papers that back George W. Bush in 2004 switching over to the Democrat this year. But few expected that would happen deep in the heart of Texas.
Now it has, with the Houston Chronicle and Austin American Statesman coming out for Obama today.
That brings to at least 17 the number of papers that have made the switch. The Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express-News did stick with the GOP candidate John McCain but he has lost papers all over the country, from the Chicago Tribune to the San Bernardino Sun to the New York Daily News.
Other major papers for Kerry in 2004 just came out for Obama, including the News & Observer in Raleigh and the Orlando Sentinel, both in key swing states. See our complete endorsement tally elsewhere on our site and several other stories.
Here is an excerpt from the two T for Obama editorials.
*
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
After carefully observing the Democratic and Republican nominees in drawn-out primary struggles as well as in the general campaign, including three debates, the Chronicle strongly believes that the ticket of Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden offers the best choice to lead the United States on a new course into the second decade of the 21st century.
Obama appears to possess the tools to confront our myriad and daunting problems. He's thoughtful and analytical. He has met his opponents' attacks with calm and reasoned responses. Viewers of the debates saw a poised, well-prepared plausible president with well-articulated positions on the bread-and-butter issues that poll after poll indicate are the true concerns of voters. While Arizona Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have struck an increasingly personal and negative tone in their speeches, Obama has continued to talk about issues of substance.
It is true that Obama has served less than a term in the U.S. Senate and that his previous elective experience is confined to the Illinois Legislature. However, during that public service and his previous role as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago, he has developed an appreciation and understanding of the real-life concerns of middle- and low-income Americans.
On the Iraq war, Obama was an early voice of opposition to the initial invasion and his plan for a phased withdrawal of combat forces has been embraced by American and Iraqi policymakers. His partner on the ticket, Biden, is one of the leading foreign policy experts in Congress. They pledge to rebuild America's diminished standing in the world and restore our reputation as the leading defender of democracy and human rights.
Obama's health care plan mandates health insurance for all American children, an issue of vital importance to Harris County and Houston, which has the highest rate of uninsured youngsters in the nation. By contrast, the proposal by McCain to offer a tax credit to Americans to purchase insurance while taxing health benefits for the first time will further discourage small business owners from providing employee health insurance.
One weakness Obama has shown is a tendency to demonize the energy industry, which will be an indispensable ally in developing alternative fuel sources in the future. He would do well to rethink some of his positions and apply his consensus-building skills to an essential bulwark of the Texas economy. On another issue of vital importance to the Houston area, Obama supports the U.S. space program and has wisely backed off an earlier proposal to delay NASA's moon and Mars missions to save money.
McCain has an illustrious record of service to America, first as a pilot taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese, and then with a distinguished Senate career. To his credit, he has broken with his own party in the past to fight for campaign reform, oppose the sanctioning of torture and acknowledge the threat of human-induced global warming. However, in his bid for the presidency, he has aligned himself with a more conservative political base and disappointed moderates.
Perhaps the worst mistake McCain made in his campaign for the White House was the choice of the inexperienced and inflammatory Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. Had he selected a moderate, experienced Republican lawmaker such as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison with a strong appeal to independents, the Chronicle's choice for an endorsement would have been far more difficult.
AUSITN AMERICAN STATESMAN
A vote for Obama would be a vote for change on an array of fronts. Obviously, he would become the first U.S. citizen of color to hold the nation's highest office. But more important than his biracial bloodline are his ideas.
On taxes, on foreign policy, on energy and on health care, Obama shows a firm grasp on the problems and a solid grip on solutions.
Obama would not isolate our nation's enemies but talk to them. There is no dishonor in diplomacy, as President Nixon demonstrated when he went to China.
Obama, an opponent of the long, expensive war in Iraq, wants to withdraw troops from that country — not a retreat but a phased withdrawal over 16 months. Iraqis want us out, and we should accommodate them as quickly as is practical. That would free up resources to confront the growing dangers in Afghanistan.
On energy production, McCain spotlights a false promise of cheap gasoline. He mentions renewable resources, but almost in passing. Obama concentrates his discussion of energy on moving the country beyond the talking stages of diversifying its energy sources and making that talk reality. Offshore drilling alone won't lower the price of gasoline immediately — and maybe not ever.
We can't wait any longer to diversify the nation's energy production, and we can't base our energy future on pining for the long lost days of cheap gasoline.
On the economy, McCain offers warmed-over tax cuts and an economic policy that is contributing to the credit crisis that is rocking Wall Street and putting stress fissures on Main Street.
While McCain would continue tax cuts for the affluent, Obama's tax plan makes the much larger middle class — the people on whose spending the economy relies — the beneficiaries of tax cuts.
Now that's change.
Beyond the wonkism, however, is a fundamental question of who is best equipped to lead.
Truth be told, neither McCain nor Obama could be expected to deliver 100 percent of his agenda. What economic reality won't limit, the vagaries of getting legislation through Congress will.
McCain, whose heroic military service to the nation we enthusiastically salute, is a fellow who built a political career saying "no." He served two terms in the U.S. House before being elected to the Senate in 1986. His accomplishments are mixed, but the Washington he vilifies rubbed off on him. For example, his effort to bring about comprehensive immigration reform was truly a bold, bipartisan move. But it died. So he turned his back on it because a comprehensive approach is politically incorrect with his party's right wing?
Greg Mitc (gmitc @editorandpublisher.com) is editor.
"whose heroic military service"
absolute bull myth. ed off in Annapolis after getting admitted via affirmative action, crashed several planes (one crash would have crashed his flyer's career, but he worked his connections), including one by making a bad "3 AM" decision that got him shot down, then begged for and got special POW treatment as son of a top commander of the VN war.
Those damn liberal rags!!
BARACK OBAMA
76 newspapers total
Over 10 million circulation (we are still counting)
ARKANSAS
Arkansas Times (K): 34,000
CALIFORNIA
The Argus (Fremont) (K): 26,749
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek) (K): 183,086
Daily Review (Hayward) (K): 30,704
The Fresno Bee (K): 150,334
La Opinion (Los Angeles) (K): 114,892
Los Angeles Times (N/A): 773,884
The Modesto Bee (K): 78,001
The Monterey County Herald (K): 28,933
Oakland Tribune (K): 96,535
The (Stockton) Record (B): 57,486
The Sacramento Bee (K): 288,755
San Bernardino Sun (B): 54,315
San Francisco Chronicle (K): 370,345
San Jose Mercury News (K): 234,772
San Mateo County Times (K): 25,982
Santa Cruz Sentinel (K): 23,290
Tri-Valley Herald (B): 29,759
COLORADO
Cortez Journal (K): 6,700
The Denver Post (B)
The Durango Herald (K): 8,870
Gunnison Country Times (N/A): 4,000
Ouray County Plaindealer (K): 3,000
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington Post (K): 673,180
FLORIDA
Miami Herald (K):
Naples Daily-News (B)
Orlando Sentinel (K):
GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Cons ution (K)
HAWAII
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (K): 64,305
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune (B): 541,663
Chicago Sun-Times (K):
Southwest News-Herald (K)
IOWA
The Storm Lake Times (K): 3,200
MAINE
Bangor Daily News (K)
Brunswick Times-Record (K)
MASSACHUSETTS
The Boston Globe (K): 350,605
The Standard-Times (New Bedford) (K): 30,306
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press (K):
The Muskegon Chronicle (K): 41,114
MISSOURI
Kansas City Star
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (K): 255,057
NEW MEXICO
Las Cruces Sun-News (B)
Santa Fe New Mexican (K): 25,249
NEW YORK
The Daily News (B)
el Diario: 53,856
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville Citizen-Times (K): 50,160
News & Observer (Raleigh) (K)
Wilmington Star-News (K)
OHIO
The (Toledo) Blade (K): 119,901
Dayton Daily News (K): 116,690
The (Canton) Repository (B): 65,789
Springfield News-Sun (K): 24,684
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
OREGON
Mail Tribune (Medford) (K): 30,349
The Oregonian of Portland (K)
Yamhill Valley News-Register
PENNSYLVANIA
The Express-Times (Easton) (B): 44,561
Philadelphia Inquirer (K):
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (K): 214,374
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga Times (K): 71,716
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) (K): 146,961
The (Nashville) Tennessean (K): 161,131
TEXAS
Austin American-Statesman (B)
Houston Chronicle (B)
The Lufkin Daily News (K): 12,225
UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune (B):
VIRGINIA
Falls Church News-Press (K): 30,500
WASHINGTON
The Columbian (B): 44,623
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (K): 129,563
The Seattle Times (K): 220,883
Yakima Herald-Republic (B)
WEST VIRGINIA
The Charleston Gazette (K): 48,061
Huntington Herald-Dispatch (K)
WISCONSIN
The Capital Times (Madison) (K): 16,335
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) (B): 87,930
JOHN McCAIN
19newspapers total
About 2 million daily circulation
CALIFORNIA
Napa Valley Register: 16,283
The San Francisco Examiner (B): 80,000
COLORADO
Mountain Valley News (Cedaredge): 2,000
The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction) (B): 31,349
The Pueblo Chieftain (B): 49,169
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington DC Examiner (N/A): 100,073
FLORIDA
Tampa Tribune
MARYLAND
The Baltimore Examiner (N/A): 50,000
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald (B): 182,350
The (Lowell) Sun (B): 44,439
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Foster’s Daily Democrat (B): 22,547
Union Leader (Manchester) (B): 51,782
NEW YORK
New York Post (B): 702,488
OHIO
The (Findlay) Courier (B): 22,319
TEXAS
Amarillo Globe-News (B): 44,764
Dallas Morning News (B):
San Antonio Express-News
WASHINGTON
(Spokane) Spokesman-Review (B): 89,779
WEST VIRGINIA
Wheeling News-Register (B): 12,821
houson is full of blacks and austin is liberal as liberal can be. who cares what the papers say in texas. mccain wins
LOL. Austin is to Texas as San Francisco is to California.
The Chronicle is so liberal that they haven't endorsed a Democratic candidate since LBJ in 1964. That's pretty ing liberal.
And I'll bet the Chronicle's editors are overwhelmingly Black, right?
You really don't know anything about the Austin American-Statesman, do you?
From wiki, and I lived in Austin for seven years, this is about right:
The Statesman's editorials show it to be an amalgam of liberal philosophy combined with strong pro-business sentiment.[citation needed] In this, it reflects the Texas heritage of focusing on business and Austin's history of being youthful and liberal. However, it did endorse George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and Republican governor Rick Perry along with every other Republican in bent in 2006. The Statesman also tends to provide fair coverage of Libertarian Party and Green Party matters.
Um...George Bush is from Texas, that's why they endorsed him.
Um...the Houston Chronicle endorsed EVERY Republican candidate since 1964. How many of those candidates were from Texas?
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