New York Times endorses Kerry!

[anotherway83]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/17/election.endorsements/index.html

(CNN) -- The New York Times has endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president, calling the Democrat "a man with a strong moral core" who "has qualities that could be the basis for a great chief executive."

The endorsement from one of the nation's largest and most influential newspapers, published in Sunday's editions and placed on The New York Times Web site Saturday night, was expected.

The Boston Globe, the largest newspaper in Kerry's home state of Massachusetts, also endorsed the senator.

"We have been impressed with Mr. Kerry's wide knowledge and clear thinking," the endorsement said. "He is blessedly willing to re-evaluate decisions when conditions change."

It also said Kerry's "entire life has been devoted to public service."

Long fiercely critical of President Bush and his administration, The New York Times editorial board excoriated his domestic and foreign policies, and wrote that the presidential race "is mainly about Mr. Bush's disastrous tenure."

"Nearly four years ago, after the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency, Mr. Bush came into office amid popular expectation that he would acknowledge his lack of a mandate by sticking close to the center. Instead, he turned the government over to the radical right," the paper wrote.

"The president who lost the popular vote got a real mandate on September 11, 2001. With the grieving country united behind him, Mr. Bush had an unparalleled opportunity to ask for almost any shared sacrifice. The only limit was his imagination. He asked for another tax cut and the war against Iraq."

Accusing Bush of a "Nixonian obsession with secrecy, disrespect for civil liberties and inept management," the newspaper accused Bush of failures in the war on terrorism.

"The Justice Department cannot claim one major successful terrorism prosecution," it said, adding that other nations were "shocked" by the abuse of inmates at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

"Like the tax cuts, Mr. Bush's obsession with Saddam Hussein seemed closer to zealotry than mere policy," the editorial board said of the Iraq war. "The international outrage over the American invasion is now joined by a sense of disdain for the incompetence of the effort."

"We have specific fears about what would happen in a second Bush term, particularly regarding the Supreme Court," the paper added, pointing to the president's controversial judicial appointees.

The paper also said that if Bush is re-elected, "domestic and foreign financial markets will know the fiscal recklessness will continue. Along with record trade imbalances, that increases the chances of a financial crisis, like an uncontrolled decline of the dollar, and higher long-term interest rates."

"The Bush White House has always given us the worst aspects of the American right without any of the advantages," it added. "We get the radical goals but not the efficient management."

Kerry, The New York Times said, "has the capacity to do far, far better. He has a willingness - sorely missing in Washington these days - to reach across the aisle. We are relieved that he is a strong defender of civil rights, that he would remove unnecessary restrictions on stem cell research and that he understands the concept of separation of church and state."

Praising other elements of Kerry's platform, the endorsement said, "We look back on the past four years with hearts nearly breaking, both for the lives unnecessarily lost and for the opportunities so casually wasted. Time and again, history invited George W. Bush to play a heroic role, and time and again he chose the wrong course. We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better.

In its editorial, The Boston Globe said Kerry exhibits "an ability to see complex problems in new, often prescient, ways and a willingness to seek collaborative solutions... ."

"On the signal issues of this campaign -- the Iraq war and terrorism -- Kerry is up to the challenge. Persuading our allies to share more of the military and economic burden in Iraq is a daunting task, but only Kerry has the credibility to bring them to the table. Iraq, simply put, is out of control.

"Kerry is best qualified bring it under control, not least by reassuring the Iraqis themselves that the United States does not have permanent designs on their strategic bases or oil. On terrorism, Kerry understands that intelligence, police work, diplomacy, and economic development are the principal weapons against a diffuse but knowable enemy."

The Boston Globe is a unit of the New York Times Company. Their editorial boards are separate.

[igloo]

..what a shock

[jtk4]

whats next "fox endorses bush"

[igloo]

whats next "fox endorses bush"

Or Putin

Putin urges voters to back Bush

By CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty

Monday, October 18, 2004 Posted: 7:08 AM EDT (1108 GMT)

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin says terrorist attacks in Iraq are aimed at preventing the re-election of U.S. President George W. Bush and that a Bush defeat "could lead to the spread of terrorism to other parts of the world."

Putin, speaking Central Asian Cooperation Organization summit in Tajikistan Monday, made his most overt comments of support so far for the re-election of Bush for a second term.

"Any unbiased observer understands that attacks of international terrorist organizations in Iraq, especially nowadays, are targeted not only and not so much against the international coalition as against President Bush," Putin said.

"International terrorists have set as their goal inflicting the maximum damage to Bush, to prevent his election to a second term.

"If they succeed in doing that, they will celebrate a victory over America and over the entire anti-terror coalition," Putin said.

"In that case, this would give an additional impulse to international terrorists and to their activities, and could lead to the spread of terrorism to other parts of the world."

Putin noted that American voters will not decide the election just on Iraq.

"Because of this we must take a realistic approach and be prepared for any development of events," he said. "We respect any choice the American people will make."

President Putin made it clear Russia remained opposed to the war in Iraq.

"Today, our views on that differ from the views of President Bush," he said.

[obby]

Which reminds me.

Putin Offers Hand to Bush in U.S. Election

Oct 18, 5:42 AM (ET)

By Denis Dyomkin

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, siding with President Bush two weeks before the U.S. election, said Monday that armed attacks in Iraq were staged by "international terrorism" out to block his re-election.

"The attacks of international terrorism in Iraq are directed not only at international coalition forces but at President Bush personally," said Putin, speaking in the Tajik capital.

"International terrorism has given itself the goal of causing maximum damage to Bush in the election battle, the goal of blocking the re-election of Bush for a second presidential term," he told a news conference.

Putin's comments, ahead of the Nov. 2 election in which Democratic challenger John Kerry and Bush are fighting a close race, seemed a reward to the U.S. President for his personal friendship and valuable support.

The strong support he enjoys from Bush since quickly backing the U.S. war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks in the United States has helped him withstand other criticism from the United States and the West over his democratic record at home.

Despite making clear he wanted to see Bush returned to the White House, the pragmatic Putin carefully balanced his comments by adding: "We will, of course, respect any choice by the American people."

Last June, Putin made clear for the first time he would like to see Bush back in the White House, accusing the Democrats of hypocrisy for attacking the U.S. leader on Iraq, saying the Clinton administration had been responsible for the 1999 air attacks on Yugoslavia.