Barack Obama for President

Tis the season for newspaper editorial boards to pronounce who they endorse and thus far this season, Obama is sweeping this particular aspect of the race. The Washington Post announced its endorsement of Obama today. Wow. They didn't mince any words, did they?

[Our choice] is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good. [...]

... Mr. Obama's temperament is unlike anything we've seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

It appears they really like him.

As do some other newspapers. Via Kula2316, here's some of the papers who've issued their endorsements recently.

The Wisconsin State Journal endorses Obama. Obama was endorsed by the SouthCoast Today (MA), the Lehigh Valley Express-Times (PA), the Asheville Citizen Times (NC), the San Bernardino Sun (CA), the Tennessean, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Boston Globe has stepped up with an endorsement as did the San Francisco Chronicle which notes the candidates' temperament, response to pressure and judgment in choosing a running mate.

[T]he emergence of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression gave Americans an opportunity to see the two major-party candidates under heightened stress. It was a rare chance to see the two senators encounter the type of pressure that comes with the job description of president of the United States.

Even though each ultimately voted for the same solution - the $700 billion bailout - their demeanors could not have been more different. Sen. John McCain magnified the aura of crisis, "suspending" his campaign to return to Washington, where his role in negotiations was at best tangential. Sen. Barack Obama was a portrait of calmness and deliberation, reminding Americans that it is possible for a leader to juggle more than one task at a time.

Obama showed steadiness in a moment of anxiety, with Americans' portfolios withering and policymakers scrambling to do something - anything - to staunch the panic. The Illinois senator was similarly deliberative - in contrast with McCain's quick-draw provocation - when Russia invaded Georgia in August.

In those crises, and in the hot lights of three debates, Obama demonstrated a presidential depth and temperament. His performance under the unrelenting scrutiny of the past 20 months has helped quell the "experience issue" for a 47-year-old senator who was elected in 2004. [...]

Throughout a campaign that has been intense - and at some points ugly - Obama has kept his composure and maintained a vision of optimism that has drawn an unparalleled wave of young people into the political process. His policies and his persona have offered hope to a nation that is deeply polarized, swimming in debt, mired in war and ridden with anxiety. He taps into that treasured American reservoir - patriotism - with his calls for sacrifice and national service.

Barack Obama is the right president for these troubled times.

Editor & Publisher has a tally of the endorsements which they promise to keep updated. Per the E&P account which was published before today's endorsements by the Washington Post and SF Chronicle, Obama has 39 papers endorsing compared to 15 for McCain. The E&P tally also notes who each paper endorsed in 2004. The number of Bush endorsers who are now endorsing Obama is interesting.

As the Wisconsin State Journal put it:

America is at a pivotal point in its history -- a difficult time that demands talented leadership to renew our nation's spirit and pull us together to meet the incredible challenges ahead.

The right leader for the time is Barack Obama.

The Wisconsin State Journal endorses the dynamic and youthful senator from Illinois for president.

Far more than his opponent, Obama represents a new direction. He has shown he can inspire and lead people to action. And his relatively short time in corrupt, self-absorbed, terribly-failed Washington, D.C., may actually be a key strength. Obama is not stuck in the status quo of the Capitol crowd or its long-failed Congress.

Obama doesn't just give pretty speeches. He speaks to people's best instincts, encouraging them to shine.

Obama is best-equipped this election to make America feel good about itself again. That's a powerful feeling -- one that could go a long way toward invigorating our economy and national sense of purpose.

Obama is convincing in his call for a new kind of politics in Washington. His life story and history-making bid for the White House also have forced the rest of the world to view America in a new and more positive way.

An Obama presidency will immediately give America more clout and credibility around the globe. It will immediately win over and win back allies and friends. As much as other nations may fear American power and influence, they fear our potential decline even more. American must not decline. America must remain a beacon of freedom, democracy, innovation and prosperity. [...]

Obama shows strong signs of being that once-in-a-generation leader who can inspire more people to say "yes" to a better world for our children and grandchildren.

Wisconsin should support Obama on Nov. 4.

Yes it should and so should our nation.

UPDATE:

One more notable endorsement came through for Obama today from a newspaper that has never endorsed a Democrat in its entire long history -- the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune in its earliest days took up the abolition of slavery and linked itself to a powerful force for that cause--the Republican Party. The Tribune's first great leader, Joseph Medill, was a founder of the GOP. The editorial page has been a proponent of conservative principles. It believes that government has to serve people honestly and efficiently.

Nevertheless, this time the Trib has chosen to endorse Barack Obama, and reassure those who are yet unsure about voting for Obama.

We do, though, think Obama would govern as much more of a pragmatic centrist than many people expect.

We know first-hand that Obama seeks out and listens carefully and respectfully to people who disagree with him. He builds consensus. He was most effective in the Illinois legislature when he worked with Republicans on welfare, ethics and criminal justice reform.

He worked to expand the number of charter schools in Illinois--not popular with some Democratic constituencies.

He took up ethics reform in the U.S. Senate--not popular with Washington politicians.

His economic policy team is peppered with advisers who support free trade. He has been called a "University of Chicago Democrat"--a reference to the famed free-market Chicago school of economics, which puts faith in markets.

Obama is deeply grounded in the best aspirations of this country, and we need to return to those aspirations. He has had the character and the will to achieve great things despite the obstacles that he faced as an unprivileged black man in the U.S.

He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.

When Obama said at the 2004 Democratic Convention that we weren't a nation of red states and blue states, he spoke of union the way Abraham Lincoln did.

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.