Midwest, South papers like Dole

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Dole won endorsements from The Detroit News, the Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Houston Chronicle, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Kansas City Star, The Hutchinson (Kan.) News, The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., the Cincinnati Enquirer and The Idaho Statesman in Boise.

The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Examiner, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Maine Sunday Telegram as well as newspapers in Hartford, Conn., Seattle, and Portland, Ore., endorsed Clinton on Sunday.

He also won the backing of The Des Moines Register, the Honolulu Advertiser, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, the News & Record of Greensboro (N.C.) and the Times of Shreveport (La.). In New Jersey, Clinton won endorsements from The Asbury Park Press of Neptune, The Courier-News of Bridgewater and The Times of Trenton.

An in Ohio, the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Canton Repository and the Dayton Daily News endorsed Clinton in their Sunday editions.

In Connecticut, feelings were split, with Clinton endorsed by The Hartford Courant and Dole backed by The Day of New London, the Connecticut Post of Bridgeport, the Norwich Bulletin and the New Haven Register.

The New York Times called Clinton the best candidate in the field but expressed reservations about his "resoluteness and sensitivity to ethical standards in government."

But the Times said that Clinton "is clearly the most skilled navigator of today's contrary political seas."

The Boston Globe said that under Clinton's leadership, "the country is better off than it was four years ago."

The Globe credited Clinton for cutting the budget deficit by half, trimming the federal roster of employees, and promoting education and the environment.

The newspaper also applauded the president for attacking "the growing disparity between the rich and the poor" by raising the minimum wage and the earned-income tax credit.

The Globe said its endorsement might take a different line, however, "if the race were to be judged on moral and ethical grounds alone."

The Detroit News said Dole may not be able to deliver all he promises.

"He will have to deal with reality as he finds it, as every president does. But at least Mr. Dole and Mr. Kemp are pointed in the right direction," the newspaper said in backing Dole and Jack Kemp.

In its endorsement of Dole, the Milwaukee newspaper criticized the Clinton administration for being dogged by scandal.

Americans, the Journal Sentinel said, "deserve a president who offers honor, achievement and vision. Bob Dole meets this test."

The Hartford Courant's endorsement of Clinton rated the president's achievements in office over his administration's ethical lapses.

The Courant noted his administration has cut the annual budget deficit 60 percent and created 10 million jobs.

"Bill Clinton deserves re-election because the pluses of the past four years outnumber the minuses," the Courant concluded.

Sunday's endorsement marks only the second time in 228 years the Courant has endorsed a Democrat for president. The last time it endorsed a Democrat was when it chose Clinton in 1992.

Similarly, The Oregonian endorsed Clinton as it did four years ago. In its previous 142-year history, the Portland paper had never endorsed a Democrat for president.

Clinton also received the endorsement of The Seattle Times and The Denver Post.

Despite its location next to Dole's home state, The Kansas City Star said its choice of Dole was not automatic. The Missouri paper said it has disapproved of many of Dole's actions. But, having endorsed Clinton in 1992, the paper said Clinton's responses to ethical questions have been, in effect, "'I don't recall,' 'We made a clumsy mistake' or 'It's not my fault; blame someone else."'