Politics

Major Papers Endorse Gore

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 5, 2000 / 10:04 AM EST / CBS

Vice President Al Gore has been endorsed by two major newspapers in advance of the Super Tuesday primaries on March 7.

In its Sunday editorial, The New York Times pointed out that it had not endorsed any candidate in the presidential primaries since 1992. It also chose John McCain over George Bush for the Republican nod.

Ohio's largest newspaper, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, weighed in with endorsements as well. Like New York, Ohio's presidential primary is Tuesday, but The Plain Dealer - which chose Gore on the Democratic side - picked Bush rather than his Arizona rival McCain in the GOP race. Gore also nabbed an endorsement from The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, while The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City Star endorsed Bradley.

In choosing McCain over the Texas Governor, the Times said it felt that Bush had "embraced a punitive hard-right agenda...and made himself an instrument" of his party's Congressional leaders.

The newspaper said Sen. McCain of Arizona "would not have to be repackaged and repositioned when it comes to outreach and reform."

"He has a proven ability to get votes from the vital center of the American spectrum," the editorial says.

The Times also noted that McCain vowed to break the "iron triangle" of donations, lobbyists and legislation.

The Plain Dealer said Gore is well-versed in world affairs and has been instrumental in putting President Clinton's domestic programs into effect. But it also says Gore must establish that his administration would operate on an ethical plane far higher than that of Clinton.

The Ohio newspaper also said Bush possesses energy, steadiness, administrative ability, and sincerity.

It praises McCain's insurgent campaign, but says he has shown an impatience that can quickly boil over into anger and petulance.

The Times said one of its reasons in not endorsing former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley was that he "possesses an even more disturbing inability to convey a real hunger for the opportunity to serve."

But in choosing Gore, the Times said that while there was plenty to criticize in his style and substance, the Vice President "brings tremendous gifts to his quest for the White House."

The newspaper said that Gore had "a passion to lead, a determination to leave a positive mark on history, and a burning desire to step out of his mentor's shadow and prove that he possesses the self-control and presidential high-mindedness so lacking in Mr. Clinton."

The paper also gave Gore high marks on foreign policy, saying the Vice President "is clearly the best prepared candidate in this race. He is also his party's strongest leader on environmental protection and scientific progress."

The Times said that Sunday's primary endorsements of McCain and Gore applied only to the primary race and that the newspaper would make a fial presidential endorsement late in the campaign for the November general election.