Chicago Tribune Endorses a Democrat For the First Time Ever.

I spoke recently about how The San Joaquin Record endorsed a Democratic candidate for the first time since 1936.

That was surprising enough, but now the Chicago Tribune have also endorsed Obama, the first time the Tribune have EVER endorsed a Democratic candidate.

That's got to hurt. Nor have they been faint with their praise:

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them. We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president. We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.

The editorial goes on the explain how conservative an organisation it is and how it has, on occasion, endorsed independent candidates but never Democratic ones. However, just as they endorsed Horace Greeley running against the "corrupt administration of Republican President Ulysses S. Grant" they say they see "parallels today" with the current Republicans.

The Republican Party, the party of limited government, has lost its way. The government ran a $237 billion surplus in 2000, the year before Bush took office -- and recorded a $455 billion deficit in 2008. The Republicans lost control of the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 because, as we said at the time, they gave the nation rampant spending and Capitol Hill corruption. They abandoned their principles. They paid the price.

But, unlike The Washington Post which endorsed Obama whilst heaping praise on John McCain, the Chicago Tribune hit McCain rather hard for his flip-flopping:

We might have counted on John McCain to correct his party's course. We like McCain. We endorsed him in the Republican primary in Illinois. In part because of his persuasion and resolve, the U.S. stands to win an unconditional victory in Iraq.

It is, though, hard to figure John McCain these days. He argued that President Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible, but he now supports them. He promises a balanced budget by the end of his first term, but his tax cut plan would add an estimated $4.2 trillion in debt over 10 years. He has responded to the economic crisis with an angry, populist message and a misguided, $300 billion proposal to buy up bad mortgages.

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

I happen to agree that McCain did exactly that. He put winning the election before the good of what would happen if he were indisposed and the US suffered another 9-11 attack. He seriously proposed putting a self confessed Hockey mom in charge of the free world. It's to be expected that lefties like myself would say that, it's astonishing that The Chicago Tribune is saying it.

But, more importantly, they are also saying that Barack Obama is absolutely the right man for the job.

He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.

When Obama said at the 2004 Democratic Convention that we weren't a nation of red states and blue states, he spoke of union the way Abraham Lincoln did. It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln.

We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

Now that's an endorsement.

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Tags: The Chicago Tribune, John McCain, Barack Obama, US election 2008