Daily Endorsement Tally: Big Atlanta, Portland, Seattle Papers Pick Kerry

By: E&P Staff Three big-city newspapers endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president this weekend.

One of them, The Oregonian in Portland, had supported President Bush in 2000. Another paper in a swing state, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, also backed Kerry, which gives the Democrat both dailies in that city. The Seattle Times (which had picked Bush in 2000) endorsed Kerry last month.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also endorsed Senator John Kerry on Saturday. "Too often," the AJC editorial declared, "Bush has seemed to disdain rational analysis of a situation in favor of a rigid, unbending ideology that recognizes no shading of gray. The world that Bush describes, and the world as it exists, are often two different places."

UPDATE: Kerry picked up two other major newspaper endorsements in swing states Sunday: The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Portland Press Herald in Maine.

E&P is charting editorial endorsements across the country. Our exclusive tabulation shows the two candidates are about even in the number of endorsements, but Kerry trumps Bush in the circulation of those newspapers by about a 5-1 margin.

The Oregonian said Kerry's "long record of public service shows that he possesses a deep, nuanced understanding of the central domestic issues of our time." It added that Bush's "arrogance" concerning Iraq had led to led to "a series of military, political and diplomatic blunders and, we believe, resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many brave Americans."

When Bush took office in a deeply divided nation, the editorial said, "he promised to reach out to unite the country. If anything, he has helped make the rifts deeper. That may be his real failure as president. John Kerry can do better."

The Atlanta newspaper, in its editorial, called the invasion of Iraq "a tragic mistake" and said the president betrayed a "tragic lack of competence" in handling the economy. Even with a top-notch staff, "a successful president must be able to independently assess the information and recommendations that he is given. Bush has shown no evidence that he is capable of making such judgments, and in fact seems to operate as a passive recipient of information collected and analyzed by others," the editorial continued.

Kerry, in the first two debates, "has been able to dispel the cartoon image of him created by Republican operatives.

"During his time in public life, Kerry has proved himself to be an intelligent, diligent student of world and national affairs with the courage to take the lead at times when others would shirk the burden. ... It's time to give competence a chance."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial declared: "John Kerry should be the next president of the United States. This endorsement is based not only on President Bush's failings -- which are manifest -- but also on the conclusion that Kerry can succeed where Bush has failed. ...

"George W. Bush has failed America on the economy, civil liberties, the environment, nuclear proliferation and, most unforgivable, on national security by leading us into a demonstrably unnecessary war in Iraq that has distracted our attention from and diminished our capability to fight a comprehensive global war on terror.

"Kerry is intellectually and ideologically equipped to succeed where Bush has failed. The obvious prospects for that success lie in his military, congressional and international experience, his superior intellectual curiosity and willingness to consider dissenting opinions, his commitment to protecting the civil liberties of all Americans and his potential to surround himself with a broad coalition of competent Cabinet members, staff and advisers."

Like the Atlanta paper, the P-I backed Al Gore in 2000.