THE WEEK AHEAD
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119768815672831249.html?mod=googlenews_wsjPolitics
Odds Are on Obama to Get
Iowa Paper's Endorsement
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER
December 15, 2007; Page A2
In an age of bloggers and bulk email, some may find it refreshing to come across an ink-stained monolith with the power to make or break a campaign. A Democratic presidential endorsement from the Des Moines Register is imminent, probably coming Sunday or a week hence.
Though its circulation is only about half the 500,000 of the 1960s, the Register remains the only statewide newspaper in Iowa and a political powerhouse. With its tradition of liberalism, it is particularly influential among Democrats.
The newspaper's editorial board, which makes the endorsements, operates separately from the newsroom. Even David Yepsen, the Register's esteemed political columnist, claims not to know what will happen. In a town that consumes political information like popcorn, this is the best-kept secret around.
Those sifting for clues make hay out of the fact that Sen. Hillary Clinton's camp publicly feted the paper's editorial staff at a local eatery recently and that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware was called in twice for interviews. David Axelrod, chief strategist for the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, sat in for his candidate's interview with the board a week or so ago. "It went well -- or at least I think it did," he said. "They're absolutely inscrutable."
Political operatives credit the paper's endorsement with raising the campaign of then-obscure North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in 2004. He went on to place a strong second in the Iowa caucus and won a spot on the presidential ticket. But history may not repeat itself. Even Edwards aides say it is unlikely he will win the prize this time around.
Since 2004, the paper's editorial board has undergone heavy turnover. That six of the seven in the group are women hasn't been lost on political observers, who wonder if this might give Mrs. Clinton an edge.
But speculation tilts heavily toward Mr. Obama, who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning. Some think the Register prefers to back candidates who aren't establishment favorites, a description that may apply more to Mr. Obama. After all, everyone likes to play kingmaker.