Obama Wins Globe Endorsement
Boston Newspaper Gives Nod to Senator Barack Obama
The nation watched as states vied for position during the primaries. Now a new rivalry is brewing between newspapers in the northeast and midwest.
Iowa claims to hold the first test in the Nation to select the next president and New Hampshire spouts the first true primary election. Other states, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Nevada, have moved their primaries up in order to allow their citizens to have a larger selection of primary candidates to choose from. Now a new row is brewing between Iowa and New Hampshire – which state chooses more accurately.
Iowa Versus New Hampshire
On Sunday, the Des Moines Register chose democrat Hillary Clinton and republican John McCain as their endorsed candidates. The editorial board of the Boston Globe, closely watched in the New Hampshire campaign, came out in favor of Barack Obama and McCain in its endorsements Saturday. The Associated Press reported that “the Globe's board said Obama fulfills America's need for ‘a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world…with all its perils and opportunities. Barack Obama has this understanding at his core’."
The debate over how the selection process was garnered in Iowa is still brewing. Some are calling for a nullification of the endorsement by the Des Moines Register. Many have indicated that the editorial board is “not in tune with the Iowa voters” and that the ultimate selection will differ from the endorsed democratic candidate. “Will the presence of three women at the helm of the editorial board benefit Mrs. Clinton or hurt her chances,” asked the New York Times? The New Republic has added: “How Iowa voters ultimately vote is very difficult for polls to predict.”
Primary States
But on a wider note, the debate has taken on larger issues that the selection process in Iowa. Many have question the importance of two such small states in dictating which candidates remain for the others states to select. The Boston Globe has fueled this debate. Jonathan Stein from Mother Jones wrote: “The Boston Globe tried to steal some of the Register’s thunder today, also releasing its endorsements….The Globe is distributed pretty widely in New Hampshire, and the endorsements should have at least some impact there.” However, “time will tell if the Register’s endorsement will provide Clinton and McCain with boosts… [It] has endorsed losers before.”
Newspaper Endorsements
Writers are mentioning the success record of both papers: they have indicated that the Register has not chosen a democratic winner in over 20 years. The Globe’s Scott Helman talks about “diversity in New England” where divergent views “read the same newspaper.” Peter S. Canellos of The Globe writes that “different classes of issues are taking precedence on the trail.”
In a not so subtle way, The Globe is stressing the value of its endorsement over that of its Midwestern Rival. Whether pointing out the Register’s errors in the final Republican debates or the cozy comments by Hillary Clinton to Register Editor Carol Hunter in the Democratic debates (“Carolyn, do you want to ask us to raise our hands…”); NH voters have an endorsement that many feel is stronger than that in Iowa.
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