Newspaper Candidate Endorsements

Editor and Publisher's compilation of newspaper endorsements (updated Oct 18) gives John Kerry a resounding edge:

John F. Kerry
48 newspapers total
8,935,195 daily circulation

George W. Bush
34 newspapers total
4,776,231 daily circulation

Here's what some of the papers are saying in support of John F. Kerry for president:

We have been impressed with Mr. Kerry's wide knowledge and clear thinking - something that became more apparent once he was reined in by that two-minute debate light. He is blessedly willing to re-evaluate decisions when conditions change. And while Mr. Kerry's service in Vietnam was first over-promoted and then over-pilloried, his entire life has been devoted to public service, from the war to a series of elected offices. He strikes us, above all, as a man with a strong moral core.

[...]

There is no denying that this race is mainly about Mr. Bush's disastrous tenure. Nearly four years ago, after the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency, Mr. Bush came into office amid popular expectation that he would acknowledge his lack of a mandate by sticking close to the center. Instead, he turned the government over to the radical right.

[...]

Like the tax cuts, Mr. Bush's obsession with Saddam Hussein seemed closer to zealotry than mere policy. He sold the war to the American people, and to Congress, as an antiterrorist campaign even though Iraq had no known working relationship with Al Qaeda. His most frightening allegation was that Saddam Hussein was close to getting nuclear weapons. It was based on two pieces of evidence. One was a story about attempts to purchase critical materials from Niger, and it was the product of rumor and forgery. The other evidence, the purchase of aluminum tubes that the administration said were meant for a nuclear centrifuge, was concocted by one low-level analyst and had been thoroughly debunked by administration investigators and international vetting. Top members of the administration knew this, but the selling went on anyway. None of the president's chief advisers have ever been held accountable for their misrepresentations to the American people or for their mismanagement of the war that followed.
--The New York Times

(The) cause of fighting global terrorism was mislaid. At home, (President) Bush has consistently favored the rich and powerful. ... Finally, as Nevadans we find it impossible to endorse the president who has decided Yucca Mountain is a scientifically sound repository for the nation's nuclear waste.
--Nevada Appeal (Carson City)

Four years ago, this page endorsed George W. Bush for president. We cannot do so again — because of an ill-conceived war and its aftermath, undisciplined spending, a shrinkage of constitutional rights and an intrusive social agenda.
--The Seattle Times

A nation cannot wage war indefinitely while undermining its economic and social foundations at home. Yet the president insisted year after year on tax cuts, skewed disproportionately toward the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, while ratcheting up discretionary domestic spending at a rate that distressed even his own natural allies. The consequences were predictable: A slide from surplus into deficit, made inevitable by the war, was deepened and lengthened by Bush policies.
--The Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)