By: Joe Strupp Publisher Frank Blethen of The Seattle Times, which endorsed Barack Obama on Sunday, said most papers wait too long to give their opinions on such races.
"The worst endorsements, to me, are the ones right before an election," said Blethen, who made the Obama endorsement decision along with Editorial Page Editor Jim Vesely. "You make a far greater contribution to people really thinking about the candidates when it is done over a far greater amount of time. If people are going to pay any attention to our endorsements, we should try to share whatever wisdom we have earlier, when it matters."
Blethen points out that, although the print endorsement ran on Sunday, a web version of the choice was posted last Friday. "Our thought is that it is written and you want to maximize your audience," he added, noting it became the most read and most e-mailed item on the site by Monday.
As for the choice of Obama, Blethen said, "It has been a continual process. We look at McCain and we see a guy who is sort of a Teflon guy. Not a lot of stuff sticks to him." But, he adds, "he was in with the savings and loan debacle. We had identified Obama in the primary as our preference."
Blethen points out that the Times' endorsements have varied in the past, citing the 2004 choice of Kerry, but a 2000 endorsement of Bush, which he readily claims was "the biggest presidential endorsement mistake we have made.
"You looked at George Bush in 2000, you had a guy with a very thin and poor resume. But nobody knew the guy would start an illegal war and become the most recklessly profligate spender ever," he says.
Blethen said the past week's economic market problems show even more why a fiscally smart president is needed, although he said that did not effect the choice of Obama or the timing of the endorsement: "We had this scheduled for about three weeks. The financial calamity just put a real fine point on it."
On a related editorial front, Blethen said the Times' Op-Ed pages will soon shrink, from two to one, each day, with more letters likely winding up on the Web site and a possible change in the printing of columns. In an effort to cut pages, he said Op-Ed columns may be published in print with just a summary and directions to find the entire column online.
"It ties into our Web presence," he said. "We haven't quite figured it all out, but we might provide an Op-Ed brief and refer it to the Web site."
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