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Plain Dealer endorses Obama for president
The Plain Dealer ^ | October 18, 2008 | The editors

Posted on 10/19/2008 7:37:26 AM PDT by Gorilla44

After eight years of George W. Bush, America needs a change in direction and a change in tone.

It needs a president who understands that, yes, the world can be dangerous, but it is also complex. That the United States cannot defend its freedom by abandoning its principles. That it cannot ignore its allies one day and demand their help the next.

arn, and not confuse loyalty with competence. Who will ask Americans to sacrifice in the service of their country, not their party or self-interest. Who will be the leader Bush promised eight years ago -- a unifier, not a divider.

Barack Obama can be that leader.

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Having endorsed McCain and Obama in their respective party primaries, we have little doubt that either could serve capably as president. Certainly, either would be a huge improvement over the incumbent.

We also believe that either would govern more effectively and lead more inclusively than they have campaigned these last two months. They had better, because this fall has degenerated into a disappointing cacophony of attack ads and banality.

McCain has shamelessly exaggerated Obama's supposedly radical ties and tried to place him far outside the political mainstream. Obama has twisted McCain's record beyond recognition and attempted to tie him to Republican ideologues he has fought his whole career.

Such campaigning insults the American people and degrades those who engage in it. Voters who hunger for straight talk about the most frightening economy in 70 years, or who long for hope in the face of two grinding wars, deserve better.

We endorse Obama, knowing full well that doing so involves some risk.

If he is elected on Nov. 4, he will govern with a Congress dominated by fellow Democrats. That should help him fulfill his promises to reform health care, invest in green energy and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. But if a President Obama believes he can simply impose his will -- or even worse, must buckle to the will of doctrinaire congressional barons -- he may fall prey to the one-party hubris that so damaged both the Bush presidency and the GOP brand. Obama will have to be tough enough to push back if Democrats on Capitol Hill try to draw him into the mindless partisanship he has often and rightly renounced. Polarization is a bad way to campaign; it's a worse way to govern.

Those who have known Obama the longest say he instinctively seeks win-win solutions and understands that there usually is more than one way to reach a worthy goal. Let's hope so. He has an ambitious agenda, but will inherit a federal deficit approaching $1 trillion, as well as long-term financial obligations that could cripple future generations. He'll have to make harder choices than he has been willing to acknowledge in this campaign.

He is young and obviously cannot match the government experience of his Republican opponent, John McCain. But from the moment he electrified the 2004 Democratic Convention by declaring that America's shared values must trump its racial, religious and ideological divisions, Obama has demonstrated uncommon grace, confidence and intelligence.

Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope, to be realistic in the face of great problems and to trust in one another. To minorities and other Americans on the margins, he offers living proof that this nation can fulfill its ideals. To the world, he offers quite literally a different face, one that embodies America's diversity and boundless opportunity.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: 2008endorsements; liberalmedia; obama; plaindealer

1 posted on 10/19/2008 7:37:26 AM PDT by Gorilla44
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To: Gorilla44

Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope....
:::::
Yes, because that is all Americans will have left, if this radical, America-hating Communist gets in our White House.


2 posted on 10/19/2008 7:39:22 AM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: EagleUSA
Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope....

Oh, man! Just think of the check I'm gonna git. Dawg! New rims for my ride!!

3 posted on 10/19/2008 7:42:19 AM PDT by tbpiper
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To: Gorilla44
Remember, it was Cleveland that first introduced us to the youngest Mayor, then gave us Cong. Dennis Kook-Sin-Itch!
4 posted on 10/19/2008 7:42:32 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Gorilla44

Is anyone really surprised that this liberal rag has endorsed Obama? At least the Plain Dealer’s bias is out in the open now. All of its columnists, except one, are liberal and most of the letters that it publishes are written by liberals and Democrats. Frankly, I’m getting sick of this paper and I’m not sorry to see it losing readership and having to cut its staff.


5 posted on 10/19/2008 7:46:09 AM PDT by steadfastconservative
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To: tbpiper
..you want to make this look good????


6 posted on 10/19/2008 7:47:35 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Gorilla44

A liberal fishwrap rag endorses the Marxist. Color me shocked.


7 posted on 10/19/2008 7:49:15 AM PDT by OCCASparky (Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep)
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To: Gorilla44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE5is3_1XWs


8 posted on 10/19/2008 7:51:09 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: Gorilla44

I don’t really care anymore. If 0bama were to unfortunately win and bad things happen i.e. another terrorist attack, the economy deepens even worse, I don’t want to hear anything from anybody. “Oh, we made a mistake, I’m sorry!”.....No, idiots wanted this so they are going to get what they deserve.


9 posted on 10/19/2008 7:51:53 AM PDT by ObamaandAyersaTerroristsBFFL
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To: Gorilla44
Of course no surprise here. I read the Sunday PD only for the sports page and advertisements. Pretty much skim over the rest. The bias within their editorial group is breathtaking.

The PD has been losing subscribers for years. Just the other day, I walked into a local store and someone was at the front door trying to give away free copies and sign people up for subscriptions. I just laughed and kept walking.

10 posted on 10/19/2008 7:53:13 AM PDT by IndyTiger
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To: Gorilla44; Chieftain

I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED I tell you!

This is HUGH and SERIES!

Oh gosh...the PD??? who ever could have predicted this????

And this from a city of immigrants in the 50’s who realized the American dream buying houses in Parma and eating soup 6 nights a week and standing in the freezing cold working vegetable stands at the Westside market?

Immigrants who fled the tyrannies of the Soviet Union? Who proudly learned English and had American flags on their lawns right next to the Pink Flamingo statues.

whoa, this country has changed! And the immigrants grandchildren now spit in the face of the country that gave them their freedom, their cell phones, their free college, and their Youtube!


11 posted on 10/19/2008 8:01:21 AM PDT by Recovering Ex-hippie (McCain may be a flawed MANIAC....but he's MY maniac!)
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To: Gorilla44

What is Plain Dealer? This does not seem to be big news to me. I would imagine most people don’t know what that is...or at least I hope. lol.


12 posted on 10/19/2008 8:03:28 AM PDT by napscoordinator
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To: All

“We endorse Obama, knowing full well that doing so involves some risk.”

Understatement of the year award.


13 posted on 10/19/2008 8:15:48 AM PDT by Gorilla44
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To: Gorilla44

The risk is that the Fairness Doctrine may force them to print conservative views once in a while.

Oh, right, that won’t happen. Only the “other side” will have to abide by that.

A lose-lose if zero wins.


14 posted on 10/19/2008 8:22:30 AM PDT by renosathug
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To: Gorilla44
Strip away all the window dressing, and at its core this editorial says, "Vote for 0bama because he looks different."

A chillingly vapid endorsement of an Affirmative Action presidency.

15 posted on 10/19/2008 8:47:20 AM PDT by martin_fierro (I Am Joe)
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To: SandRat
..you want to make this look good????

(Que "To Dream the Impossible Dream")

Sure, why not? All we have to do is spread some of Ferrari's technological weath around so that all the Trabants of the world have a chance to be champions. So what if your F40 will only 0-60 in like 2 days now.

16 posted on 10/19/2008 1:07:09 PM PDT by tbpiper
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