November 12, 2024
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Maine newspapers endorse McCain, Obama

AUGUSTA – Three of Maine’s Sunday newspapers endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, while a fourth said Republican John McCain is the best candidate to lead America for the next four years.

The Maine Sunday Telegram was joined by two other Blethen Maine Newspapers, the Kennebec Journal of Augusta and Morning Sentinel of Waterville, in calling for Obama’s election.

The Telegram said America needs a leader who is “intelligent, resolute and, above all, cool under pressure.”

“On paper, one would not expect a first-term U.S. senator from Illinois to be a person likely to bring those qualities to the nation’s highest office. But over the course of an arduous campaign, that senator proved that he has the mettle – the demeanor, energy and policy positions – to lead this nation during a difficult time,” the Telegram said in its editorial.

The Kennebec Journal and Sentinel acknowledged that Obama “is short on experience,” adding that “electing him president entails risk.” But they said he has grown more calm and measured as the campaign has gone on. Their matching editorials say Obama “has not sought to appeal to voters’ anger and resentment, but to their desire to come together in common purpose.”

“America is hungry for a person who can restore our faith and confidence – in ourselves, in our politics, in our country,” the two central Maine newspapers say. “We believe that Sen. Barack Obama is that person, and we endorse him for president.”

The Sun Journal’s Sunday newspaper of Lewiston called on McCain to “shed the baggage that burdens his status as presidential contender and the compromising air he wears like an ill-fitting suit, and be true to his personal tenacity, honesty and candor.”

The Lewiston paper said America “needs a shift, not a swing, from its current course. This will require cooperation between parties. President John McCain could be the cross-aisle consensus builder who could turn the country back toward prosperity.”

The Sun Journal on Saturday also endorsed Republican Sen. Susan Collins for a third term, saying “her experience and accomplishments during her dozen years in the Senate give her the edge over [Democrat Tom] Allen.”

Collins has also received endorsements from the Bangor Daily News, Maine Sunday Telegram and the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.


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