contrapositive

ENDORSEMENT WATCH Five more newspapers that supported Bush in 2000 have gone for Kerry:

Bradenton Herald in Florida
The Daily Camera in Colorado
The Columbia Tribune in Missouri
The Daily-Herald in Arlington Heights, Illinois
The Muskegon (MI) Chronicle

Just as interesting, three papers that endorsed Bush last time now say they will not back either candidate this time:

The Tampa Tribune in Florida
The Wichita Falls Times-Record in Texas
The Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina

The Tampa Tribune explained itself thus:

We find ourselves in a position unimaginable four years ago when we strongly endorsed for president a fiscal conservative and "moderate man of mainstream convictions'" who promised to wield military muscle only as a last resort and to resist the lure of "nation building."

[...]

We had fully expected to stand with Bush, whom we endorsed in 2000 because his politics generally reflected ours: a strong military, fiscal conservatism, personal responsibility and small government. We knew him to be a popular governor of Texas who fought for lower taxes, less government and a pro-business constitution.

But we are unable to endorse President Bush for re-election because of his mishandling of the war in Iraq, his record deficit spending, his assault on open government and his failed promise to be a "uniter not a divider" within the United States and the world.