Ouch! That's gotta hurt the GOP GOTV in MI
The Detroit News, a bastion of Republican press in Michigan has endorsed For President: None of the Above - 10/24/04. They basically refuse to stoop so low as to endorse a Democrat (they have never done so previously), but have given Bushco a scathingly negative report card, ending with:
They tore Bush a new one, and made a strong case for voters to deny him a second term. This non-endorsement from a GOP stronghold press organ does a good job of undermining the Rove strategy for winning the election; energize the Republican base to ensure that they come out in full force and tear down the opponent such that the Democrats are unmotivated to show up on Nov 2nd.
The Democrats are as motivated as one could possibly hope for. Whether it is because they simply hate the Preznit and his orcish administration with a "vociferousness" that knows no bounds, or because they feel good about their candidate makes little difference.
Kerry has garnered 17 editorial endorsements from papers that endorsed Bush in 2000 and a total of 70 with a circulation in excess of 11 million. Bush has only 58 and only one steal from a Gore supporter in 2000. That speaks volumes.
[Update: Today's tally has Kerry stealing 31 endorsements that had gone to Bush in 2000. Kerry endorsements: 118 with circulation of about 14.9 million. Bush endorsements: 69 with circulation of about 8.9 million. Full details of the endorsements tally can be found here. Other notables: Kerry picked up the Orlando Sentinel, which had backed Bush in 2000, completing a sweep of major papers in Florida. Three papers in Illinois, including the Chicago Sun Times, which had previously endorsed Bush in 2000. My local paper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which had endorsed Bush in 2000 (maybe my letter to the editor helped!). Four in Washington, including the Seattle Times, that had supported Bush in 2000. Finally, Kerry received the endorsement of the Billings Gazette in Montana of all places, while Bush got bupkiss. I mean really, how many states are as red as Montana!]
Do newspaper endorsements make a difference? Probably not as much as they once did when the newspaper was the principle source of news and opinion, but I believe that it does still provide people with food for thought. It probably won't change any Bush supporters into Kerry supporters, but a non-endorsement such as this does not give a Bush supporter motivation to get out and vote and will certainly give those remaining undecideds leaning towards Kerry plenty of ammo to close the deal and vote for Kerry.
The president's record does not recommend him for re-election.Their treatment of Kerry is a pretty tame non-endorsement, basically pointing out that he is no friend of the Auto Industry because he favors higher CAFE standards (how is this anti-Auto Industry is beyond me, it just means that they need to work harder to reduce our dependence on the increasingly scarce commodity: Oil!). They also make a point of calling out the BC04 estimates on the KE04 campaign promises ($2B in new spending, a figure widely disputed, but also one which Kerry himself said would be scaled back to ensure fiscal responsibility). Basically, they just couldn't bring themselves to endorse a Democrat, but have in the process left the door wide open for people to draw their own conclusions.
They tore Bush a new one, and made a strong case for voters to deny him a second term. This non-endorsement from a GOP stronghold press organ does a good job of undermining the Rove strategy for winning the election; energize the Republican base to ensure that they come out in full force and tear down the opponent such that the Democrats are unmotivated to show up on Nov 2nd.
The Democrats are as motivated as one could possibly hope for. Whether it is because they simply hate the Preznit and his orcish administration with a "vociferousness" that knows no bounds, or because they feel good about their candidate makes little difference.
Kerry has garnered 17 editorial endorsements from papers that endorsed Bush in 2000 and a total of 70 with a circulation in excess of 11 million. Bush has only 58 and only one steal from a Gore supporter in 2000. That speaks volumes.
[Update: Today's tally has Kerry stealing 31 endorsements that had gone to Bush in 2000. Kerry endorsements: 118 with circulation of about 14.9 million. Bush endorsements: 69 with circulation of about 8.9 million. Full details of the endorsements tally can be found here. Other notables: Kerry picked up the Orlando Sentinel, which had backed Bush in 2000, completing a sweep of major papers in Florida. Three papers in Illinois, including the Chicago Sun Times, which had previously endorsed Bush in 2000. My local paper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which had endorsed Bush in 2000 (maybe my letter to the editor helped!). Four in Washington, including the Seattle Times, that had supported Bush in 2000. Finally, Kerry received the endorsement of the Billings Gazette in Montana of all places, while Bush got bupkiss. I mean really, how many states are as red as Montana!]
Do newspaper endorsements make a difference? Probably not as much as they once did when the newspaper was the principle source of news and opinion, but I believe that it does still provide people with food for thought. It probably won't change any Bush supporters into Kerry supporters, but a non-endorsement such as this does not give a Bush supporter motivation to get out and vote and will certainly give those remaining undecideds leaning towards Kerry plenty of ammo to close the deal and vote for Kerry.
posted by Chris at
Sunday, October 24, 2004
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