politics

Unlikely Endorsements

Ohio Politics

For an Ohio blogger, I have paid a lot of attention to the Minnesota Senate race. Well, there has been a shocking development: the Minneapolis Star Tribune has endorsed incumbent Republican Norm Coleman over Democrat Al Franken. When people talk about liberal newspapers, the New York Times is always the one that comes to mind first. The Star Tribune is probably more liberal than any paper in the country - including the NYT. This can be compared to what it would have been like had the Akron Beacon Journal endorsed Ken Blackwell over Ted Strickland in 2006 - only times about 100. Imagine if I announced tomorrow I changed my mind and was voting for Obama. That is how surprising this is. The Star Tribune has been a regular arm of the DNC in going after Coleman for years now. Minnesota Democrats Exposed says not a single newspaper across the left leaning state has endorsed Al Franken. As for the reasoning behind the Strib’s endorsement, your guess is as good as mine. I suspect they know Franken would be a total black eye for the state and even they don’t want a part of the divisiveness he would bring. I almost wonder what Coleman has done wrong to get this endorsement! And on top of it, the Strib could have endorsed third party candidate and former Senator Dean Barkley if they wanted to; Coleman wasn’t their only non-Franken option.

BTW, the Cincy Enquirer’s endorsement of McCain was not newsworthy at all.  But i agree with Ben, this is one of the more surprising ones.

© 2008 NixGuy.com.