Florida Newspaper Endorses Obama

[Hope And Change]

FLORIDA PRIMARY: Democrats: Obama


Palm Beach Post Endorsement

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Barack Obama has set the tone for the presidential campaign, which is why The Post endorses him in the Florida Democratic primary.

One irony is that Sen. Obama has influenced all his major challengers despite his youth (46) and the fact that he was little-known nationally until his riveting address at the 2004 national convention. Another irony is that Sen. Obama is downplaying the state primary because of a fight between the national and state Democratic parties. But all the candidates are on the Jan. 29 ballot, and we hope that voters ignore the sideshows and turn out.

Why vote for Sen. Obama? Because his opponents, Democratic and Republican, now tout the "hope" and "change" on which Sen. Obama has campaigned from the start. No candidate has more directly and correctly addressed the unease that pervades the country after seven years of a terrible presidency.

On most major issues, little separates Sen. Obama from Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. All favor more aggressive health-care reform than any Republican. All favor tax policies that give more help to the middle class and ask more of the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans who have benefited so much from the Bush tax cuts.

But for someone who spent eight productive years in the Illinois legislature and has been in the Senate for just three years, Sen. Obama has displayed impressive judgment, consistency and political maturity. Consider his statement opposing the Iraq invasion in 2002, before he even got to Washington:

more...

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2008/01/20/a2e_obama_endorse_0120.html">Link

[Adelante]

1. Second one today from Florida

St. Petersburg Times also endorsed Obama.

[Cha]

11. The St Pete Times have been

consistently Democratic for as long as I've been reading them online..I was hangin' out there in the summer of '02 and that's a little happenin' placeB-)

[itsrobert]

2. Who decides to vote for a candidate

because a newspaper says too?

[1corona4u]

3. I guess they think they have to do something...

he's down so bad in Florida....

[Adelante]

5. He's down 8 points in Florida

Not so bad.

Clinton 42%
Obama 34%
Edwards 9%

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/InsiderAdvantage_Majority_Opinion_FL_GOP_Jan_Poll.htm

[1corona4u]

6. Not according to Florida's

Sun Sentinel Poll;

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/acrobat/2008-01/34798230.pdf

I trust this one a bit more, given that I live in Florida...

[Adelante]

15. 20 points isn't terrible, either

He was that behind in Nevada and got it down to 6. We'll see.

[Jai4WKC08]

18. I'm not sure either of them count for much

It's too soon for a NV bump to take effect, but neither is the effect of SC there.

[Cha]

8. If a newspaper endorsed John Edwards..

would not you be happy? I know I would.

[ursi]

4. yay!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo

[Cha]

7. My and other DUers and my family and friends thoughts on Iraq

as well as Obama's!

"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world and strengthen the recruiting arm of Al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars; I'm opposed to dumb wars." Sens. Clinton and Edwards voted to authorize the invasion.

The real "hope" behind the Obama candidacy is that this son of a Kenyan father and Kansas mother can transcend not only race but the partisanship, stoked by special-interest money, that has paralyzed Washington and made Congress even less popular than President Bush. As The Almanac of American Politics notes, Sen. Obama worked with some of the most conservative Republicans - Kansas Sam Brownback on the genocide in Darfur and Oklahoman Tom Coburn on no-bid contracts for Katrina relief. With Richard Lugar of Indiana, the GOP's foreign-policy specialist, he secured money to confiscate shoulder-weapons that could be used against airliners.

[KennedyGuy]

9. Is that the free weekly?

[ncabot22]

14. No, Hillary got that one

Congrats!

[KennedyGuy]

19. Alright!! free means more readers...sorry Obamanut

[Hope And Change]

10. The Gainesville Sun Endorses Obama

Democrat Barack Obama

When he was still in the Illinois Legislature, Barack Obama once said that he was not opposed to war. "What I am opposed to is a dumb war."

Obama was an early critic of the invasion and occupation and he continues to advocate troop withdrawal. As president, he says, he would bring the troops home within 16 months.

The son of a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama's multi-ethnic, multi-cultural life experiences would serve him well as he sets about trying to repair the damage that eight years of the Bush presidency has done to America's image abroad.

"I genuinely believe that our security and prosperity are going to depend on how we manage our continued integration into the rest of the world," he says.

As much as any candidate in either party, Obama has electrified audiences, engaged those who normally disdain politics and captured the imagination of younger Americans who need to be more engaged. The biracial candidate who rarely talks about race, he resonates the politics of hope and personifies the politics of change.


more...

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080120/OPINION01/801200308

[Cha]

13. I freakin' LOVE IT!

I used to live in Gainseville in the '70's and my Dad lived there until a couple of years ago and one of my sister's graduated from UofF..go Gators!

[Adelante]

16. That makes 3 Florida newspapers today! nt

[Hope And Change]

17. Yeah!

:bounce:

[flpoljunkie]

20. Excellent!

[AtomicKitten]

12. We'll take it!