A Tale of Two Endorsements

For your consideration, here are two very different presidential endorsements, one from the Dallas Morning News, and the other from Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The Dallas newspaper endorsed Hillary Clinton, which is the first time they have endorsed a non-Republican in 75 years. Pretty impressive, except for the fact they didn't mention Libertarian Gary Johnson once.

However, these are the Dallas Morning News' excuses for Hillary:

...She also has the support of dozens of top advisers from previous Republican administrations, including Henry Paulson, John Negroponte, Richard Armitage and Brent Scowcroft. Also on this list is Jim Glassman, the founding executive director of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas.

I covered Jim Glassman yesterday. He is an elitist tool, and not a very sharp one at that.

Continuing:

Clinton has remained dogged by questions about her honesty, her willingness to shade the truth. Her use of a private email server while secretary of state is a clear example of poor judgment. She should take additional steps to divorce allegations of influence peddling from the Clinton Foundation. And she must be more forthright with the public by holding news conferences, as opposed to relying on a shield of carefully scripted appearances and speeches. 

Those are real shortcomings. But they pale in comparison to the litany of evils some opponents accuse her of. Treason? Murder? Her being cleared of crimes by investigation after investigation has no effect on these political hyenas; they refuse to see anything but conspiracies and cover-ups.

"Being cleared" and "innocent" are two different things. When FBI Director James Comey doesn't prosecute her while saying others would be prosecuted for the same crimes, there is a message here: Hillary Clinton is being given favored status by law enforcement officials. If pointing this out makes me a "political hyena", then I will happily laugh at that charge. (pun intended)

I will also laugh at this endorsement, which shows little thought.

On the other hand, the Richmond Times-Dispatch is another newspaper that has endorsed Republicans for quite awhile, going back at least to Ronald Reagan in 1980. But the Richmond newspaper is endorsing Libertarian Gary Johnson.

Their reasoning:

...Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president. Fortunately, there is a reasonable — and formidable — alternative. 

Gary Johnson is a former, two-term governor of New Mexico and a man who built from scratch a construction company that eventually employed more than 1,000 people before he sold it in 1999. He possesses substantial executive experience in both the private and the public sectors. 

The Times-Dispatch editorial board began to explore the possibility of endorsing Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, several weeks ago, as scandal continued to engulf the Democratic nominee while the Republican candidate’s statements and behavior daily piled distress upon puzzlement. 

...Johnson’s clear and consistent support for limited government, free enterprise, social tolerance and individual freedom appeals to our own philosophical leanings. An examination of his policy positions revealed that they often match our longstanding editorial creed. 

...But our final decision to endorse the Johnson/Weld ticket, and to do so with great confidence and enthusiasm, came only after Johnson met with the editorial board last Monday morning. We found him to be knowledgeable but unscripted, reasonable and good-humored, self-assured but free from arrogance, willing and able to address every question, consistent in his beliefs without being dogmatic, even-tempered, curious — and in all respects optimistically, realistically presidential. 

We have over the years interviewed hundreds of politicians — local, state, and national — and there’s no doubt that Johnson belongs in the major leagues, and on the debate stage this fall. He is a skilled and experienced leader, an able communicator, an intelligent man.

Their endorsement goes on, including some of Johnson's statements in their interview with him.

But the contrast in these two endorsements couldn't be more obvious: In order to support Hillary Clinton, the Dallas Morning News had to bend over backwards, make excuses for her criminal behavior, and call out the support of moronic elitist Republicans. Whereas the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote a thoughtful and positive endorsement of Gary Johnson, explaining his good points, without a single "even though he is a Libertarian". They even interviewed him for it.

While Gary Johnson isn't perfect, it is at least possible to write a positive endorsement of him like the Richmond Times-Dispatch did. The Dallas Morning news needs to revisit their Hillary endorsement, which has more holes than one of my old tshirts.