A joke of an endorsement

By Edward Copeland

The Des Moines Register, Iowa's largest newspaper and the people who brought you two of the most worthless and dull presidential debates this past week (with the added bonus of saying the loony Alan Keyes could show up for the GOP forum but Dennis Kucinich was a no go for the Dems), cast their lot with Hillary Nothing-But-Ambition Clinton as the Democrat "most ready to lead." In their editorial, they even spell out how, if you are going by qualifications, Biden, Dodd and Richardson's accomplishments all trump Hillary's, but still they go with the one certain to lose. They say:

The job requires a president who not only understands the changes needed to move the country forward but also possesses the discipline and skill to navigate the reality of the resistant Washington power structure to get things done.

Really? What has Hillary done to show she knows how to get things done? Teaming up with Censorin' Joe Lieberman on issues such as flag burning and Iran? Refusing to ever admit her support for the Iraq war was a mistake?

On the GOP side of things, the Register goes with McCain, who is barely a blip in Iowa. At least picking him though could be called taking a principled stand. Hillary's selection does not. Both editorials read like such weaselly documents you'd think Mark Penn or Howard Wolfson wrote them, making sure to say nice things about just about every candidate. I'm surprised they didn't find a way to give a shoutout to Tom Tancredo.

Meanwhile, in Boston, the state next door to New Hampshire, the Globe sees things differently, at least on the Democratic side.

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been endorsed by The Boston Globe editorial board ahead of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 8in New Hampshire. The board wrote that Obama, the Illinois Democrat, fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world,'' and that McCain, the Arizona Republican, ''has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States.''

Cheers to the Boston Globe and boo-hiss to the Des Moines Register.