By: E&P Staff What was behind the shockingly early, and aggressive, first major newspaper endorsement of the 2004 presidential race? "Since everyone here knew where we would end up anyway," explained Frank Burgos, editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, "we asked ourselves, what could we do that would make a difference, and produce the effect we would like?"
What the paper did was devote the entire front page of the tabloid to their announcement, with a large photo of Kerry. Inside they did much more than explain why they were backing him in this swing state: They provided a lengthy strategy and tips for how to elect him.
Thursday morning, the Knight Ridder newspaper's readers weighed in, with about half of the printed letters protesting the choice, the timing, the how-to approach, or all three. A thoroughly unscientific poll on the paper's Web site showed about a 2-1 backing of the paper's stance most of yesterday.
Burgos told E&P that they chose to go early and "activist" because it would take months to mobilize the more than one million typical "non-voters" in the Philadelphia area that could be the key to a Kerry victory in the state in the fall.
"This is only our opening salvo," he promised.
One of the letters from readers the paper published today said: "That was the best and most inspiring endorsement of a politician that I have ever read ... I commend the Daily News on its courage to be the first but not the last of many Kerry endorsements." But another letter read: "A formal endorsement of John Kerry is really not necessary. Everybody with an IQ above 7 knew who the DN wanted as president from the beginning."
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