"First Democratic Endorsement in 72 Years!" reads the recommended Diary on Kos. It was about the Stockton Record endorsing a Democrat for President for the first time in 72 years.
The Editorial presents an overview of the two candidates in what has pretty much become public knowledge. On McCain, the paper is pretty damning:
He tends to shoot from the hip and go on gut instinct. The nation cannot go through four more years of literally and figuratively shooting now and asking questions later.
Meanwhile on Obama:
Obama can inspire, and our nation desperately needs an inspirational leader....
He offers hope. A new way of doing business. And a belief that our system of government can be made to work.
So the question is, if the Stockton Record can endorse their first Democrat in 72 years, what side is the Chicago Tribune going to be on, possibly for the first time in its entire existence?
UPDATE: And let's not forget this blast from the past:
Tribune Editorial: 'Obama should run - With the 2008 presidential field taking shape, the striking thing is how little excitement most of the possible candidates are likely to evoke', (12/6/2006).
....
To run for president would be a big leap for someone who just a couple of years ago was commuting to Springfield as a state senator. There is a plausible case why Obama should bide his time and burnish his credentials for the future -- plausible, but not persuasive. When a leader evokes the enthusiasm that Obama does, he should recognize that he has something special to offer, not in 2012 or 2016, but right now.
What would he bring to the race that others don't? The most obvious is an approach that transcends party, ideology and geography. In his convention speech, Obama demolished the image of a nation of irreconcilable partisan camps: "We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states."
Nobody else has shown a comparable talent for appealing to the centrist instincts of the American people -- instincts that often go unsatisfied as each party labors to rally its most uncompromising factions. After the divisive events of the last decade, the nation may be ready for a voice that celebrates our common values instead of exaggerating our differences.
Any presidential race is a long shot, and there is no guarantee that Obama could succeed. But he may never again find such favorable circumstance.
With his unifying themes, he would raise the tone of the campaign. His intellectual depth -- he was editor of the Harvard Law Review and taught law at the University of Chicago -- and openness would sharpen the policy debate. He could help the citizenry get comfortable contemplating something that will happen sooner or later -- a black president. His magnetic style and optimism would draw many disenchanted Americans back into the political process.
He and the nation have little to lose and much to gain from his candidacy.
