# Chicago Tribune endorses Obama (first time they ever endorsed a democrat) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 17, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436 "2008-10-17T20:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/21 "2008-10-18T19:13:14Z")
But hey, McCain gets the nod from the [Dallas Morning News!](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-nutwospots_19edi.State.Edition1.2908f55.html) Seriously you can tell that all is not great in McCain world when the best an endorsement can do is repeat a few GOP talking points about experience and a record of bipartisanship and conclude that > [@](#): > > As inspiring as Mr. Obama’s history-making presidential bid has been, it is risky to take a chance on an untried leader at this point in our history. > > To be sure, a McCain vote also involves an element of risk. His bellicose temperament causes concern, chiefly about his impulsive judgment. If this election were about congeniality and cool, Mr. Obama would easily prevail. > > But electing the president is not a popularity contest. Mr. McCain has better policies. He has more experience. And he has proven independence of mind. > > In these tough times, John McCain is the right man for America. That’s the best they can do? In Texas? Damning with faint praise that is. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/22 "2008-10-18T19:25:48Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > But the paper was recently sold to a new magnate, Sam Zell, who maybe was less attached to tradition than to selling papers in a 90% Democratic town. I am very happy about this, not so much because I think it will significantly help Obama as because now maybe my wife will stop giving me guilt for reading the Trib. Sam Zell bought the Tribune in 2007; the paper encouraged Obama to run in 2006, endorsed his first state senate race in 2000 and then again in 2004. From **CJJ** \*'s link: > [@](#): > > In 2006, the Chicago Tribune’s editorial page encouraged Barack Obama to run for president even before he had officially declared himself a candidate. The paper backed Obama during his first race for state senate, in 1996. It endorsed him again in his unsuccessful congressional race in 2000 and in his winning U.S. Senate race four years later. So, does this mean he’s got the paper’s endorsement come November? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/23 "2008-10-18T19:36:16Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > let me ask you something: have you ever been to Utah? Are you saying there are no newspapers in Utah that have a liberal leaning editorial board? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/24 "2008-10-18T19:50:41Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Are you saying there are no newspapers in Utah that have a liberal leaning editorial board? > > -FrL- I certainly do not know but Salt Lake City has never been deemed a liberal bastion (that I am aware of…Brigham Young founded the city fer chrissakes…liberal does not come to mind). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/25 "2008-10-18T19:56:30Z")
As posters pointed out Sam Zell is the NEW owner so there’s no story here. It’s a different paper. The Trib also owns the LA Times. Zell has made a name by going where the money is. The CW owns the largest group of CW affiliates and Zell publicly made it known if the CW doesn’t produce, he’ll dump them. He already dumped the CW in San Diego for FOX. Zell has ended news on TV stations where it isn’t profitable and has shown with WGN he goes with the bucks. He shuffled lead night anchor to afternoon news and replaced the guy with the “Flavour of the day” Mark Suppelsa. So Zell strictly is where the money is. He is a venture capitalist, and he has to answer to his investors, not to the people of Chicago. And remember the Trib is now a privately traded company so it doesn’t have to answer to the SEC. The old Tribune was a public company ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/26 "2008-10-18T20:54:18Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does anyone know how Editorial Boards at papers operate? I do not know and ask whether a cynical view (eg Zell wants to sell more papers so says endorse Obama) or a considered view is at work here. > > I was under the impression that the Editorial side of a paper such as the Trib had some self-determination that extended beyond immediate worries over advertisers or subscriptions. Indeed to have a good editorial section one would think that independence is a necessary prerequisite. But I honestly don’t know so if anyone cares to enlighten me that’d be great. Editorial boards operate differently at different papers. At some, it’s pretty much a soapbox for the publisher/owner to dictate a subject and a position, whether he actually pens the editorial himself or not. At others, it’s more of an “editorial by committee”, where the board sits down and has a conversation about the topic, eventually coming to a consensus or possibly even voting for a side of the issue. It may or may not be news to you that at many papers, the people who write the editorials are often on a schedule, and when your day comes up in the rotation,\ you write it whether you’re on the concurring or opposing side. I have no idea how the Chicago Tribune’s board usually works, and it’s probably worth noting that a presidential endorsement may not follow the usual process even if we knew what it was. Sorry for the nonspecific answer. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/27 "2008-10-18T23:09:35Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I certainly do not know but Salt Lake City has never been deemed a liberal bastion (that I am aware of…Brigham Young founded the city fer chrissakes…liberal does not come to mind). Well, my point was that just naming the geographic location doesn’t really guarantee that newspapers in its area are going to have particular editorial slants. For all I or the person who asked know, the paper in question is Salt Lake’s one liberal newspaper. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/28 "2008-10-18T23:23:53Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Well, my point was that just naming the geographic location doesn’t really guarantee that newspapers in its area are going to have particular editorial slants. For all I or the person who asked know, the paper in question is Salt Lake’s one liberal newspaper. > > -FrL- I don’t think the SLT could be called liberal, but certainly since Thomas Kearns bought the paper in the early 1900s they have done a lot to down play the strict Mormon leanings that it had early on. My point was, most of Utah is _very_ conservative, and a paper with an obvious liberal bias would not last long in any part of the state I know of, certainly not the 137 years that the SL Tribune has been around. Interestingly, they just posted this [letter](http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10653844): > [@Bill DeRycke](#): > > My favorite section of the Sunday Tribune used to be the comics. Now I turn to the Opinion section for a good laugh! It is amazing how many more liberal than conservative writers and commentators choose to express their opinions in the media. Or could it be that The Tribune has a liberal-leaning attitude and therefore selects liberal views over more conservative approaches? I thought the news media were supposed to report both sides of issues evenly and without bias! > **Be careful, Trib. The silent majority may speak rather loudly in November, and not just in Utah.** So not only mostly conservative, but also fairly bellicose. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/29 "2008-10-19T14:12:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Interestingly, they just posted this [letter](http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10653844): > So not only mostly conservative, but also fairly bellicose. Well, not everyone there is bellicose. There was [this reply](http://166.70.44.77/comments/read_comments.asp?ref=10653844&sec=Opinion) to that letter: > [@skiinjohn](#): > > The only problem the trib has with printing conservative letters is that it is hard to reprint crayon… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/30 "2008-10-19T19:43:30Z")
What really makes the _Trib_ endorsement remarkable is that fact that it was once the sandbox of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, about as zany a rightist as ever slithered the earth. Doubtless, right now there is a tremendous whirring sound emanating from his masoleum. **DSeid** : thanks for telling us about the _Dallas Morning News_. Now if _they_ were to endorse Obama, I’d have to change my undies. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/31 "2008-10-19T21:03:49Z")
How do your undies hold up to the [Houston Chronicle and the Austin American Standard](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875523) endorsing Obama? > [@](#): > > Houston and Austin Papers–Former Bush Backers–Endorse Obama … ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/32 "2008-10-19T21:35:05Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does anyone know how Editorial Boards at papers operate? I do not know and ask whether a cynical view (eg Zell wants to sell more papers so says endorse Obama) or a considered view is at work here. I was involved in the endorsement process at a local NY paper in 2006. The decisions were made by the editorial staff and I believe all of the choices and endorsement editorials were all run by the paper’s publisher. I think the publishers may have sent word that Hillary Clinton was going to get the endorsement in her Senate race, but since her opponent wouldn’t come in for an interview or invite us to have any contact, that was probably a given. I agree with **Garfield226** that this probably works differently at every publication. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/33 "2008-10-20T01:24:15Z")
I’ve had a chance to get to the actual newspapers’ sites now. Interesting. The [Houston Chronicle](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6065490.html) has endorsed the Republican candidate in every election going back over 40 years … until now. I don’t know how far back the [Austin Standard](http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/19/1019president_edit.html) goes beyond having gone for Bush but their endorsement is pretty full throated. So _Texas_ papers have gone two, a Dallas one and a San Antonia one, for McCain. and two, Houston and Austin, for Obama. Overall minimally 23 papers that had supported Bush last time are now [going Obama](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875230) and only one paper that had supported Kerry going for McCain. Four times the readership. Do endorsements effect opinion or reflect it? Either way these are good signs. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/34 "2008-10-20T01:38:58Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I don’t know how far back the [Austin Standard](http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/19/1019president_edit.html) goes beyond having gone for Bush but their endorsement is pretty full throated. Probably better if you called them the _Austin Statesman_, rather than the _Standard_.🙂 They endorsed Bush in 2004 and 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/35 "2008-10-20T01:41:56Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Looks more like someone who cares about his bottom line more than his ideologies (whatever those may be). Or maybe he’s not very ideological, and is politically unaffiliated as a result. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/36 "2008-10-20T03:25:19Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Probably better if you called them the _Austin Statesman_, rather than the _Standard_.🙂 > > They endorsed Bush in 2004 and 2000. :o Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/37 "2008-10-20T03:39:35Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > So _Texas_ papers have gone two, a Dallas one and a San Antonia one, for McCain. and two, Houston and Austin, for Obama. College Station [checks in:](http://www.theeagle.com/editorial/101908-President) > [@](#): > > In the past 50 years, The Eagle has never recommended a Democrat for president. We made no recommendations in 1960 and 1964 – when Texas’ own Lyndon B. Johnson was on the Democratic ticket – nor did we in 1968… > > It is time for America to look to its future with hope and optimism. It is time to say we can be better. It is time to redefine who we will be as a leader of nations. > > With hope in our hearts and confidence in our choice, The Eagle recommends a vote for Barack Obama for president. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/38 "2008-10-20T04:54:17Z")
Whaddayaknow? **BJMoose** , how’s those undies holding up? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/39 "2008-10-20T05:26:43Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > As posters pointed out Sam Zell is the NEW owner so there’s no story here. It’s a different paper. The Trib also owns the LA Times. Which, of course, was already rendered moot in a previous post: > [@5-4-Fighting](#): > > Sam Zell bought the Tribune in 2007; the paper encouraged Obama to run in 2006, endorsed his first state senate race in 2000 and then again in 2004. It appears to remain a story. (Whether endorsements actually have meaning or an affect on an election is a separate issue, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436/40 "2008-10-20T15:09:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I certainly do not know but Salt Lake City has never been deemed a liberal bastion (that I am aware of…Brigham Young founded the city fer chrissakes…liberal does not come to mind). Salt Lake City’s mayor is a liberal Democrat and the city hasn’t had a Republican mayor for more than 30 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-tribune-endorses-obama-first-time-they-ever-endorsed-a-democrat/468436.md?page=3)