Daily Endorsement Tally: Kerry Picks up 30 Papers, Widens Lead
Daily Endorsement Tally: Kerry Picks up 30 Papers, Widens Lead
By Greg Mitchell
Published: October 17, 2004 11:00 AM EDT
NEW YORK Sen. John Kerry picked up a raft of newspaper endorsements Sunday, widening his lead over President George W. Bush in this area.
Kerry gained the editorial backing of at least 30 papers while Bush won the support of 17 that we know of, giving Kerry the overall lead by 45-30 in E&P's exclusive tally. Kerry has more large papers on his side, maintaining his "circulation edge" at nearly 3-1, with approximately 8.7 million circ to Bush's 3.3 million. (See chart, with complete tally, below.)
Bush did pick up several major papers this weekend, earning the endorsements of the Chicago Tribune, The Arizona Republic, Denver's Rocky Mountain News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Indianapolis Star, and The Dallas Morning News.
Among Kerry's new supporters were five papers that had backed Bush in 2000: the Bradenton Herald in Florida, the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo., the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri, the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., and The Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle.
Three other papers that backed Bush in 2000 announced they would not support either candidate this year: The Tampa Tribune, the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Texas, and the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.
In addition to the big-city papers already mentioned, Bush also won backing from the Omaha World-Herald, The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., the York (Pa.) Daily Record, The Repository in Canton, Ohio, The Times Reporter in New Philadelphia, Ohio, The New York Sun, the El Paso Times, and Las Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico, and The News-Gazette in Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Among the papers endorsing Kerry today were several in the key swing state of Florida: The Miami Herald, the St. Petersburg Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Today in Melbourne, The Palm Beach Post, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, and, as already mentioned, the Bradenton Herald. In other battleground states, he picked up the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, the Dayton Daily News and Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio, and, as previously mentioned, the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo.
Kerry also got the nod from major papers in states already friendly to him: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, and The Modesto Bee.
Other papers backing the Democrat were The Kansas City Star, The Roanoke (Va.) Times, the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, the Mail Tribune in Medford, Ore., and The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif. Clearly, many papers in the Knight Ridder and McClatchy chains have rallied to Kerry's side.
Many of the editorials backing Kerry denounced the incumbent in unusually harsh language. The Miami Herald accused Bush of "narrow partisanship." Up the coast, the Daytona paper cited his "embarrassing performance." The Sacramento Bee said, "The nation has paid a steep price for Bush's arrogance -- mounting deficits and debt at home, loss of standing and effectiveness abroad." For The New York Times, his presidency has simply been "disastrous."
In supporting Bush, The Indianapolis Star nevertheless called both candidates "unsatisfying" and the Chicago Tribune also seemed a bit torn: "There is much the current president could have done differently over the last four years. There are lessons he needs to have learned. And there are reasons -- apart from the global perils likely to dominate the next presidency -- to recommend either of these two good candidates."
The Dallas Morning News was more enthusiastic, however, declaring: "Americans want and need a president with a backbone steeled by courage and a heart tendered by compassion." It added, "This is not the time for America to go wobbly. ... This is not the time for Americans to abandon their president."
But The Tampa Tribune, which has long backed Republicans, declared that it found itself in "a position unimaginable four years ago" when it "strongly endorsed" the president. While it has no deep affection for Kerry, the paper noted, it expressed disappointment in Bush and said it would "not be lending our voice to the chorus of conservative-leaning newspapers endorsing the president's re-election. ... But we are unable to endorse President Bush for re- election because of his mishandling of the war in Iraq, his record deficit spending, his assault on open government and his failed promise to be a 'uniter not a divider' within the United States and the world."
Our current tally, with latest daily circulation numbers, follows. "G" and "B" refer to whether the paper endorsed Gore or Bush in 2000. (Chart updated Monday, Oct. 18.)
JOHN KERRY
48 newspapers total
8,935,195 daily circulation
ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (G): 109,592
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle (G): 501,135
The Sacramento Bee (G): 303,841
San Jose Mercury News (G): 279,539
The Fresno Bee (G): 166,531
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa) (G): 89,384
The Modesto Bee (G): 87,366
COLORADO
Daily Camera (Boulder) (B): 33,419
CONNECTICUT
The Day (New London) (B): 39,553
FLORIDA
St. Petersburg Times (G): 358,502
The Miami Herald (G): 325,032
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) (G): 268,927
The Palm Beach Post (G): 181,727
Daytona Beach News-Journal (G): 112,945
Florida Today (Melbourne) (G): 90,877
Bradenton Herald (B): 52,163
GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution : 418,323
ILLINOIS
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) (B): 150,794
IOWA
The Hawk Eye (Burlington) (G): 19,000
KENTUCKY
Lexington Herald-Leader (G): 122,748
MAINE
Portland Press Herald (G): 73,211
MASSACHUSETTS
The Boston Globe (G): 452,109
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press (G): 354,581
The Muskegon Chronicle (B): 46,505
The Argus-Press (Owosso): 11,438
MINNESOTA
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (G): 377,058
Duluth News Tribune: 45,688
The Free Press (Mankato): 21,591
MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (G): 281,198
The Kansas City Star (G): 269,188
Columbia Daily Tribune (B): 18,874
NEVADA
Nevada Appeal (Carson City): 15,296
NEW MEXICO
The Albuquerque Tribune (B): 13,536
NEW YORK
The New York Times (G): 1,133,763
NORTH CAROLINA
The Charlotte Observer (G): 231,369
The Daily Reflector (Greenville): 25,777
NORTH DAKOTA
Grand Forks Herald (G): 32,385
OHIO
Dayton Daily News (G): 183,175
Akron Beacon Journal (G): 139,220
OREGON
The Oregonian (Portland) (B): 342,040
Mail Tribune (Medford): 35,524
The Register-Guard (Eugene) (G): 72,411
PENNSYLVANIA
The Philadelphia Inquirer (G): 387,692
The Philadelphia Daily News (G): 139,983
TENNESSEE
The Jackson Sun (G): 35,561
VIRGINIA
The Roanoke Times: 100,447
WASHINGTON
The Seattle Times (B): 237,303
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (G): 150,901
GEORGE W. BUSH
34 newspapers total
4,776,231 daily circulation
ALABAMA
Mobile Register (B): 100,244
ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) (B): 466,926
CALIFORNIA
The San Diego Union-Tribune (B): 361,317
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (B): 286,004
The Pueblo Chieftain: 52,208
GEORGIA
Savannah Morning News (B): 57,288
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune (B): 578,843
The Pantagraph (Bloomington) (B): 47,931
The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana): 39,190
INDIANA
The Indianapolis Star (B): 253,778
IOWA
Globe-Gazette (Mason City): 18,947
MASSACHUSETTS
The Sun (Lowell) (B): 50,369
MICHIGAN
The Grand Rapids Press (B): 139,216
The Oakland Press (Pontiac): 65,484
NEBRASKA
Omaha World-Herald (B): 197,627
NEVADA
Las Vegas Review-Journal (B): 170,061
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader (Manchester) (B): 59,605
NEW MEXICO
Carlsbad Current-Argus (B): 8,030
Las Cruces Sun-News (B): 22,168
NEW YORK
The New York Sun: 18,000
OHIO
The Repository (Canton) (B): 66,014
The Times Reporter (New Philadelphia): 23,956
The Courier (Findlay) (B): 22,319
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World (B): 139,383
PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record (G): 46,554
TENNESSEE
The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville): 22,057
TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News (B): 546,177
San Antonio Express-News (B): 252,889
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (B): 247,167
El Paso Times: 74,278
Amarillo Globe-News (B): 51,105
VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch (B): 191,732
The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg) (B): 47,866
WASHINGTON
The Columbian (Vancouver) (B): 51,498
Greg Mitchell (gmitchell@editorandpublisher.com) is the editor of E&P.
October 27, 2004 at 11:05 PM in Politics | Permalink
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