Newspaper and Media Endorsements
October 17, 2004 - We look back on the past four years with hearts nearly breaking, both for the lives unnecessarily lost and for the opportunities so casually wasted. Time and again, history invited George W. Bush to play a heroic role, and time and again he chose the wrong course. We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better.
The New York Times
October 17, 2004 - Far from being wavering or indecisive, Kerry's worldview has been steadfastly informed by these values for as long as we on this page have known him. In complex and dangerous times, the United States needs a leader who can bring together people and ideas. For these reasons, the Globe endorses John F. Kerry for president and John Edwards for vice president in the critical election Nov. 2.
Boston Globe
October 17, 2004 - Political passions are burning white hot as Nov. 2 nears. Americans realize what is at stake: the United States’ ability to lead in the world, protect its citizens at home, preserve its treasured liberties, and leave a legacy of hope and opportunity. George W. Bush's presidency has put all that at risk. Sen. John Kerry proposes a sharp course change.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
October 17, 2004 - This government needs a change in direction: in how it preserves liberty and opportunity for its people, in how it manages its rich resources, in how it applies its military superiority to protect us, in how it relates to the world. One candidate for president sees those challenges.
San Francisco Chronicle
October 17, 2004 - It's in the international arena that we believe Sen. Kerry can most effectively lead our country at this time. The senator's approach, similar to that of Mr. Bush's father, seeks to engage the world through diplomacy rather than place the United States on a more-combative path that isolates us from traditional friends and allies.
Miami Herald
October 17, 2004 - The three presidential debates were a revelation for millions of Americans who until then had known Kerry primarily through the distortions of the Bush campaign. They saw a poised, statesmanlike candidate who talked much more honestly than the president has about our challenges at home and abroad. They also saw a candidate whose mainstream plans for meeting those challenges bear little resemblance to the Bush campaign's scare stories.
St. Petersburg Times (Fla.)
October 17, 2004 - With Kerry, the nation could expect leadership that would result in dramatic improvements in homeland security and a strengthened military force. Americans also would see more effective strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the welcome rebuilding of our tattered international alliances. Under Kerry — and his vice presidential running mate Sen. John Edwards — pressing domestic concerns that Washington has ignored finally would get some attention.
Kansas City Star (Mo.)
The Sacramento Bee (Calif.)
October 17, 2004 - The Bush campaign attempts to paint Kerry as a dangerous leftist who wants to increase government's role in public life. That's nonsense. Kerry never has been rigidly ideological. He supported welfare reform in 1996. He co-sponsored the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit-reduction bill, his first major act when he arrived in Congress in 1985. He helped forge the 1997 agreement that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969.
The Sacramento Bee (Calif.)
San Jose Mercury News
October 17, 2004 - Kerry is better prepared to step into the presidency than Bush was four years ago. At every stage of his life, Kerry has been a man of serious purpose. In Vietnam, he signed up to fight despite his doubts. After Vietnam, he protested the war, which was neither easy nor popular. In the Senate, he investigated Iran-Contra and paved the way to better relations with Vietnam (along with Sen. John McCain).
San Jose Mercury News
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
October 17, 2004 - John Kerry offers the fresh beginning the nation needs. He is greatly different in his view of the presidency. He has an incomparably more impressive biography, full of commitment, sacrifice and seriousness of purpose. By virtue of experience and ability, he is ready for this job.
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Palm Beach Post
October 17, 2004 - Issue by issue, Sen. Kerry has laid out a better, fairer, more progressive agenda. He would shore up Social Security, not endanger Americans' retirement by disguising a risky privatization scheme as part of an "ownership society." He would allow embryonic stem-cell research, not thwart hope by yielding to a narrow ideology. He would offer Americans the promise of health care that is available to members of Congress, not the illusions of tax credits to buy insurance. He would offer laid-off and underemployed Americans training and the assurance that their taxes won't subsidize companies that move jobs abroad.
Palm Beach Post
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)
October 17, 2004 - John Kerry has shown a capacity to grow as a candidate and as a leader the past year (suggesting the value of a prolonged presidential race). That growth was particularly evident during the recent debates. He became more confident and comfortable. He began to define clearly critical differences with the president, and of all the distinctions drawn, the most telling involve those issues on which the president has failed profoundly, the fiscal health of the country and the conduct of the country abroad.
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)
Lexington Herald Leader (Ky.)
October 17, 2004 - Voters who examine Kerry's life, his long record of public service and his practical solutions for strengthening this country will be reassured. He has a lot more going for him than just not being Bush.
Lexington Herald Leader (Ky.)
Daytona Beach News Journal (Fla.)
October 17, 2004 - For those who wonder whether Kerry, like Bush four years ago, is making promises he doesn't intend to keep, look again at Kerry's past service. It is the record of a man who fights for his convictions, a man whose deepest interest is the welfare of his country. Americans can see already that John Kerry would be a good president. They should give him the chance to be a great one.
Daytona Beach News Journal (Fla.)
Roanoke Times (Va.)
October 17, 2004 - America faces a pivotal decision in this year's presidential election: Continue down the current road ..... Or return to a United States that follows its own people's narrative of its history: a country made stronger by steadily expanding individual liberties to the oppressed. A country whose leaders submit to the rule of law and make war as a last resort only, never as a reckless gamble. A country of vast power that other free nations envy, perhaps, but do not fear.
Roanoke Times (Va.)
The Modesto Bee (Ca.)
October 17, 2004 - With 20 years in the U.S. Senate, Kerry has substantial experience in foreign policy and a long-standing interest in combating terrorism and proliferation of nuclear weapons — the two most important foreign policy issues of our time. He is a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations.
The Modesto Bee (Ca.)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 17, 2004 - Political debate must focus on today's concerns, and in these troubled times Americans must hold their president to the highest standard of performance. The nation simply can't afford misjudgments like those that led to the Iraq quagmire, and deficits so large they prevent the nation from adequately providing for its armed forces, addressing homeland security needs, and guaranteeing the solvency of Medicare and Social Security. The Bush administration has fallen short on the foreign policy and fiscal fronts. It's time for the citizens of the United States to make a change.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Duluth News Tribune (Minn.)
October 17, 2004 - Sen. John Kerry is the best hope for regaining America's promise, offering the country a fresh start internationally and a return of the presidency to an office of stature and respect. While the down-home folksiness of George W. Bush may make him a better companion in a bar or coffee shop, the gravity of war and the economy demand more than simplistic platitudes.
Duluth News Tribune (Minn.)
Bradenton Herald (Fla.)
October 17, 2004 - We believe the Democratic nominee offers America a clear choice for a badly needed change in direction. Kerry brings to the job of president more than 20 years of Senate leadership, a personal knowledge of war and hope for a new approach to end the Iraqi nightmare and address the nation's domestic problems.
Bradenton Herald (Fla.)
The Daily Camera (Colo.)
October 17, 2004 - John Kerry may not have his opponent's instinctive ability to connect with ordinary Americans. But he possesses three qualities even more important at this hour in history — a willingness to assess the facts honestly, to level with the public, and to tap the best minds regardless of political affiliation. American presidents once sought counsel from experts in the opposition party — and even appointed them to Cabinet positions from time to time. Kerry shows refreshing signs of a bipartisan spirit that Bush utterly lacks.
The Daily Camera (Colo.)
Grand Forks Herald (N.D.)
October 17, 2004 - A Kerry administration likely would postpone the current round of military base closures. Kerry likely would reverse the Bush administration's policy toward agricultural disasters, too. Kerry's determination to get budget deficits under control also benefits the Red River Valley. Budget deficits spawn higher interest rates, and higher interest rates are deadly for agriculture.
Grand Forks Herald (N.D.)
Mail Tribune (Ore.)
October 17, 2004 - John Kerry's "a thoughtful, dedicated public servant with a 20-year career specializing in foreign affairs. He has encouraging ideas about extending health coverage to more Americans, getting the country’s finances back on a more rational footing and, eventually, fixing the mess in Iraq."
Mail Tribune (Ore.)
Columbia Daily Tribune (Mo.)
October 17, 2004 - It’s time to moderate an oppressive leadership that threatens our national philosophy .... It’s time for the American people to say enough. It’s time for new leadership. Let us get back on track by throwing out George W. Bush and electing John F. Kerry.
Columbia Daily Tribune (Mo.)
Greenville Daily Reflector (N.C.)
October 17, 2004 - John Kerry offers policies that stand in promising contrast to those of the past four years. Kerry has proposed making the United Nations a full partner in establishing a government and a Constitution in a rebuilding Iraq. He would renew efforts to attract international support in the form of troops. Those steps would move Iraq toward sovereignty and stability, and serve America's national security interests.
Greenville Daily Reflector (N.C.)
Flordia Today
October 17, 2004 - America needs new leadership, and we believe Democrat John Kerry can bring it to the White House, based on three decades of far-reaching public service that make him exceptionally qualified to be President of the United States.
Flordia Today
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/press_endorsements.html