Barack, Hillary Appeal For Votes -- From Front Page Of 'Duluth News Tribune'

By: Mark Fitzgerald On the front page of Monday's Duluth News Tribune, Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton make their pitch for the votes of northern Minnesotans on Super Tuesday -- Clinton citing experience, Obama agitating for change, and both noting they are Great Lakes senators.

This is the second time the News Tribune has convinced presidential candidates to make their cases directly. In the 2004 general election President George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry wrote exclusives for the paper.

"This is what America is all about -- you want to hear from the persons themselves why they should be elected," News Tribune Editorial Page Editor Robin Washington said.

Washington gave the candidates a pretty tight deadline for the pieces, asking on Friday for something by noon Sunday. The Clinton people got her article in early, while the Obama campaign, like a typical reporter, begged for some more time, finally delivering at 4 p.m.

And, like a typical editor, Washington bounced the Obama piece back, asking for more references to issues important to northern Minnesotans.

The Republican contenders get their turn on the front page on Tuesday, the day of the Minnesota caucuses, Washington said.

McCain, the consensus front-runner in the polls, was also first past the post in submitting his article, Washington said.

For Clinton, this was the second time in a week that a newspaper drafted her as writer. Last Wednesday, she wrote a reminiscence about her days at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill., for the Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003704534

While playing up her experience, Clinton also struck more local notes in her piece. One example: "For Minnesotans it is important for you to know that after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, I unveiled my Rebuild America Plan, which includes establishing a $10 billion Emergency Repair Fund to address the backlog of critical infrastructure repairs and provides $250 million in Emergency Assessments Grants to states to conduct safety reviews of their infrastructure."

Washington said the issues touched upon by both candidates were an improvement over the articles the paper got in 2004.

"I'm encouraged that in both cases they didn't talk about snowmobiling and hunting, which is what Kerry and bush hit on," he said. "Not that we don't do those things, but snowmobile and hunting rights just don't seem like the main issues the next leader of the Free World should be concerned with."