It’s probably not the kind of development that will dictate the outcome of the presidential election, but John Kerry has been racking up the newspaper editorial endorsements lately.
This morning, Editor & Publisher updated its overall tally: Kerry now leads Bush by 128 to 105 in total endorsements, and easily tops him in the circulation of the supporting papers by 16.9 million to 10.9 million. Kerry has even picked up 35 newspapers that backed Bush in 2000, while Bush has won over the support of only two papers that endorsed Gore.
The funny part, however, is seeing the Republicans’ reaction. As Salon’s Eric Boehlert reported today:
As the mountain of newspaper endorsements pile up in favor of Sen. John Kerry, including dozens from dailies that backed Bush in 2000, the Bush/Cheney campaign is dismissing the trend as no big deal. “Look, the Republican candidate will never win the contest for editorial board endorsements. The major dailies across the country tend to skew liberal,” RNC chairman Ed Gillespie told CNN last week. That spin comes straight out of the GOP handbook that insists the mainstream press tilts to the left, so of course newspapers love Democrats come Election Day.
Only problem is it’s not accurate. In fact, the complete opposite is true.
Yes, the “liberal” media includes newspaper editorial boards that tend to back Republican presidential candidates. John Kerry is slated to be only the third Dem since 1940 (joining LBJ in ’64 and Clinton in ’92) to win more endorsements than his GOP rival.
In 1984, president Ronald Reagan landed roughly twice as many endorsements as Democrat Walter Mondale in the president’s easy re-election win. And in 1996, despite his weak showing at the polls, 179 daily newspapers endorsed Republican Bob Dole, which easily outpaced the Democrats’ tally by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.
2000 was particularly one-sided — in Bush’s favor. As Jesse Taylor recently noted, Bush stomped Gore in newspaper endorsements four years ago, by nearly a 3-to-1 ratio.
So, to hear folks like Gillespie tell it, when the newspapers back a Dem three times in 17 elections (less than 18% of the time), it’s proof of widespread, left-leaning media bias. When the newspapers back the Republican, it’s proof of the GOP candidate’s strength. Heads you win, tails I lose.