Alright, thanks Lou. And in other news...

Newspapers that Endorsed Bush in 2004 who Endorse Obama in 2008

NEW YORK The Denver Post, which had backed George W. Bush in 2004 and is owned by Republican-leaning William Dean Singleton, this evening endorsed Barack Obama for president. So did the Chicago Sun-Times, Kansas City Star. Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And to top it off: two more Bush backers in 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune and Las Cruces (N.M) Sun-News.

This followed this afternoon's surprises: the Chicago Tribune, which has never in 150 years endorsed a Democrat, backed Obama, as did its fellow Tribune paper, the Los Angeles -- which had endorsed no one in more than 30 years. It seems like a dam broke yesterday with the unexpectedly early choice of Obama by The Washington Post.

In E&P's exclusive count, Obama now leads 62-18 in editorial endorsements. New additions for him include the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Oregonian of Portland. Check out our running list, updated Saturday here.

Colorodo, of course, is a key swing state. Georgia is also now, surprisingly, in play and the Atlanta paper is the state's largest.

The Salt Lake paper complained that "out of nowhere, and without proper vetting, the impetuous McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. She quickly proved grievously underequipped to step into the presidency should McCain, at 72 and with a history of health problems, die in office. More than any single factor, McCain's bad judgment in choosing the inarticulate, insular and ethically challenged Palin disqualifies him for the presidency.

"Still, we have compelling reasons for endorsing Obama on his merits alone. Under the most intense scrutiny and attacks from both parties, Obama has shown the temperament, judgment, intellect and political acumen that are essential in a president that would lead the United States out of the crises created by President Bush, a complicit Congress and our own apathy."

The Kansas City paper also hit McCain hard for choosing an "unqualfied" running mate.

The Denver paper posted on its site this evening: "The Denver Post's editorial board today has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president."

The Post decided Obama is "better equipped to lead America back to a prosperous future....In unsteady times, it may seem obvious to gravitate toward the veteran politician, but in this campaign, it's been the newcomer who has had the steady hand."

Today's endorsement will appear in Sunday's print edition of The Denver Post. Like most of the other major papers making a pick this week, it came out on the Web well before landing in print.

The paper's site also boasts a dissenting view from the editorial board (see editorial writer Chuck Plunkett's column). And Editorial Page Editor Dan Haley explains how it all went down, pointing out that the "independent" paper has split its last 14 picks for president right down the middle in party choice. He writes: "Today, with our endorsement of Obama, we lean further to the left than my own personal compass. But it's where the majority of our board is, and that's OK.

"We know our endorsement is likely to anger about, oh, 47 percent of the people in Colorado. And that's OK, too.
Endorsements are meant to stoke a public dialogue."

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875479