http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/267608-new-york-times-endorses-clinton-kasichJanuary 30, 2016, 11:16 am
New York Times endorses Clinton, Kasich
By Bradford Richardson
The New York Times has endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential primary, and John Kasich for the GOP race.
The announcement from perhaps the best-known newspaper in America comes two days before the road to 2016 begins with the Iowa caucuses.
Clinton is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
Kasich is much more of a long-shot, ranking eighth in the Republican presidential race, according to the RealClearPolitics national average of polls.
The paper of record called Clinton “one of the most broadly and deeply qualified presidential candidates in modern history.
“Hillary Clinton would be the first woman nominated by a major party,” the editorial says. “She served as a senator from a major state (New York) and as secretary of state – not to mention her experience on the national stage as first lady with her brilliant and flawed husband, President Bill Clinton.”
This is the fourth times the Times has endorsed Clinton in a run for public office – previously backing her in a pair of Senate runs and in her unsuccessful 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination.
The editorial commends Clinton’s main rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for bringing issues like income inequality and the plight of the middle class to the forefront, but ultimately concludes that he “does not have the breadth of experience or policy ideas that Mrs. Clinton offers.”
The Times said his plans to break up the big banks and start from scratch on healthcare “aren’t realistic.”
Before mentioning Kasich in its Republican endorsement, the Times dismisses the candidacies of Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at length.
“From deporting Mexican immigrants and barring Muslims to slapping a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports, Mr. Trump invents his positions as he goes along,” the editorial says.
As for Cruz, the Times says his campaign is not one aimed at restoring “constitutional principles; it’s about ambition.”
“Now, whether he’s threatening to ‘carpet bomb’ Syrian villages or pitching a phony ‘flat tax’ that would batter middle-class consumers, Mr. Cruz will say anything to win.”
The editorial devotes just three paragraphs to Kasich, none particularly praiseworthy.
Noting that he is “no moderate,” the Times criticizes Kasich for having “gone after public-sector unions, fought to limit abortion rights and opposed same-sex marriage” during his time as governor of Ohio.
Kasich stands out from the GOP field, according to the Times, in that he is “capable of compromise” with Democrats, and at least “believes in the ability of government to improve lives.
“He favors a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and he speaks of government’s duty to protect the poor, the mentally ill and others ‘in the shadows.’ ”
