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Even the mormon press is endorsing Obama

Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama for president has been big news, but isn’t that surprising. An endorsement of Obama from the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune, the paper’s first endorsement of a Democrat in its history (it had endorsed one independent, Horace Greeley, 1872, and a candidate from the Progressive Party, Theodore Roosevelt, 1912) is a bit more surprising, but makes sense.

The Tribune in its earliest days took up the abolition of slavery and linked itself to a powerful force for that cause–the Republican Party … The Republican Party, the party of limited government, has lost its way.

An LA Times blog takes note of an endorsement from The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board, which is upset Palin was chosen over Romney for VP. The LA Times made its first presidential endorsement since Nixon, for Obama. Up in my neck of the woods, the very conservative Columbian of Vancouver, Wash., endorsed Obama, resulting in a hilarious comment thread. The Record of Stockton, Cali., endorsed a Democrat for the first time since 1936. An Obama-endorsement by The News-Register of McMinnville, Ore. was its first of a non-Republican in its 80-year history.

Rich Lowry, Editor of The National Review, won’t say if his publication will make an endorsement, but former publisher Wick Allison endorsed Obama. So did Christopher Buckley, who argues his father would have done the same.

According to editorandpublisher.com, as of yesterday, Obama/Biden has about a 3-to-1 lead over McCain/Palin in endorsements from dailies, 121-42. In 1994, Kerry merely defeated Bush, 213-205, in the category.

CORRECTION: Kerry/Bush presidential race was 2004. Sorry for the error.

Looks like that damn liberal media is passing out that crazy Kool-Aid to conservative journalists nationwide. Kids, Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid!

  1. Vincent says:

    I’ll call up Rockne and have him not publish it, for the good of humanity.

  2. Sakaki says:

    Timothy – You’ll have to wait and see when my next column at the OSU Liberty comes out.

  3. Chris says:

    The Mormon Church states publicly that it does not advocate/push politics one way or the other when it comes to its members. You can take that however you’d like to, but I thought that the apparent funding of political ads in California kind of takes that position and shreds it.

    Just more Mormon stuff, sorry…I didn’t even try to find this stuff. Plus, I selfishly wanted to keep this thread going. It’s been fun.

  4. Gsim says:

    Not sure if I could come up with enough ridiculous survivalist talking points.

    /Remember Waco & Ruby Ridge
    //Red Dawn is the best movie evar
    ///Don’t fire until you can see their blue helmets
    ////got nothing

  5. Ossie says:

    Gsim: you should write a survival guide to the next revolution.

  6. Stalin says:

    Sakaki = Hitler

  7. Gsim says:

    Timothy – Bullets, you’ll need more of them. Plus, you’ll be able to trade them for other consumables.

    I tell you .22’s will be like 10 dollar bills. Better investment than toilet paper.

  8. Timothy says:

    CJ – If by “worst” you mean “most awesome”.

    Sakaki/Miles/Douchebag – So you think Obama is likely to seize power on the back of a violent Leninist revolution, nationalize all the production, and then starve six or seven million Ukrainians? I’m just trying to get a feel for exactly how many guns I’m going to need in the shelter.

  9. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Why stop here, though? Let’s see … I bet if I added “9/11,” “Holocaust hoax,” “Obama birth certificate” and “Ron Paul” to the tags this would turn into the worst comment thread.

  10. Ossie says:

    T: This comment thread just took a turn for the worse.

  11. Sakaki says:

    Okay. Obama is a fucking Communist bastard who makes Stalin look like Queen Elizabeth.

    Is that good enough for you, Vincent? Or do I have to tattoo a hammer and sickle on your forehead with a branding iron and 2 tons of wine-colored paint?

  12. Kai Davis says:

    Psh, those painted pumpkins are a lame cop out.

  13. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Conversely, I present Gourds for Change:

  14. Betz says:

    I’ve never heard the term ‘Obamination’ before *chuckle*

    Ba-rock me, Obamadeus!

  15. Kai Davis says:

    That is a top notch graphic. I approve.

  16. CJ Ciaramella says:

    I got invited to a “Defeat Obamunism” group on Facebook today.

  17. Vincent says:

    Obama is not a socialist. He believes in policies that have some socialist elements. Guess what — so does John McCain.

    So can we shut the fuck up about how Obama is a “socialist” already? It’s about as worn out an epithet as “racist” and “fascist”.

  18. orwellduk says:

    This is an Obamination!

  19. Chris says:

    Uh oh.

  20. charlie says:

    obama makes a mockery of everyone by his proposals to raise taxes. raising taxes is not good for the individual, family or business. it will sink people and business’s who are already struggling to deal with the high prices of things. it makes alot more sense to keep more money in the pockets of the people and business to chose for ourselves how to spend, save invest and donate. that is what keeps an economy strong. socialism has failed time and time again has history shows. it fails because it suck the life and hope out of people. you have nothing to work for, no chance at oppurtunity or a better life. it drives people into poverty and keeps them there with no hope. say no to obama and his evil socialism and yes to John McCain

  21. Sakaki says:

    Actually, the Salt Lake Tribune was started by Mormons, but is currently owned by MediaNews Group of Denver, CO. It is in a JOA with the Deseret News via a group called NAC, but they are still separate entities.

    The Deseret News generally does not put out endorsements, and the main arbiter of endorsements looks to be up to the Tribune.

  22. Vincent says:

    This thread is almost like a more Mormon and less Nazi version of that one time the Stormfront goons invaded the OC blog.

  23. Timothy says:

    I’d say when Jesus comes back on his dinohorse, but we all know that David Koresh was the second coming. Further, that the rapture happened but only took Jerry Falwell.

  24. Gordon says:

    Don’t believe all the lying commenters in this thread. The Salt Lake Tribune is sooooo owned by the Mormon Church, along with Coca-Cola. When will the Mormon conspiracy end?

  25. Chris says:

    Following that logic, all of America founded and funded modern-day Las Vegas….without Hoover Dam, that place reverts to what it should be, desert.

    How much further down the rabbit hole does this founding and funding go?

    We can’t forget its steady diet either: souls of the recently diseased.

  26. T says:

    Mormon bankers supplied the fledgling casinos (gangsters, basically) with loans during a time when most loans came with morality clauses. Sorta hypocritical when you think about it, but whatever. Las Vegas still has a huge Mormon population. I don’t think it’s unfair to say Mormons helped found — and fund — modern-day Las Vegas.

  27. Betz says:

    I love how 7 people felt it absolutely necessary to point out the same exact thing. Granted, those first three posts were just minutes from one another (there might have been some overlap while writing), but seriously, who the fuck trolls listservs before 6:00 in the morning? Thats way too early for me to start my general loathing for the disdain; my loathing generally begins once I step into the office.

  28. Gsim says:

    Oh, snap!

  29. Drew says:

    Steve
    Las Vegas was founded by the Spainard merchant Antonio Armijo (hence the spanish name), It was a part of mexico until the annexation in 1855. Mormons entered vegas in 1855 and left in 1857 when the Native Paiute Indians felt like they were mistreated and seized the mormon missonaires harvested and drove them out of Vegas. So mormons were there at the time it became part of the united states but Mormons had no participation of the founding of Las Vegas. Los Angeles was founded by Franciscans Which are part of the catholic religous order but would not be happy to be catergorized as Catholics. I love it when people try to sound smart and end up sounding like dumbasses

  30. Vincent says:

    Ossie posted this, you twits.

  31. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Yeah, what the fuck, Vince?

  32. ian S says:

    Did you just offend Mormons? shame on you Vince….

  33. Steve says:

    Let’s see, Las Vegas was founded by Mormons, so I suppose that makes the Las Vegas paper the Mormon press, too. And Los Angeles was founded by Catholics, so I suppose the LA Times is the Catholic press. The Salt Lake Tribune’s raison d’etre and claim to fame has always been that it was the “anti-Mormon” voice in Salt Lake City.

  34. Chris says:

    Also, there’s an ok discussion here on how well Death/Thrash meshes with LDS doctrine. I especially like the post where the idea to “include angelic messages in back-masking on the album” if/when a Death Metal LDS band was formed.

    Mormon Apologetics & Discussion Board

  35. Chris says:

    I was too. On a side note, the heaviest Death Metal music I’ve ever heard on the radio was driving through Salt Lake City a couple years back.

  36. Timothy says:

    Wait, “Waters of Mormon”? And it’s not a Death Metal band? I’m confused.

  37. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Was that a rhetorical question?

  38. Scott says:

    Is there any reason that seven different people bothered to post comments saying the exact same thing?

    Or is reading a hard thing to do?

  39. Chris says:

    More here at The Waters of Mormon. The comments are really good here as well.

  40. Chris says:

    Interesting thread at Deseret with 20 interesting comments.

  41. Chris says:

    Did someone post this on a Mormon list-serv or something? haha

    T’is true that, last I remember, 7 out of 10 people in Utah are Mormon. That doesn’t mean that all Mormons think alike…even if the Church or at least Church Leadership might want their followers to lean in one direction or another.

    Here is an interesting site made for Mormons who support Obama, by “Mormons For Obama”. There is even a “Mormons for Obama” STORE where you can buy all sorts of paraphernalia.

    So maybe the story here isn’t Deseret vs. SLT, but the fact that apparently ‘Even Mormons Are Endorsing Obama’. Maybe not though, as I said, Mormons are not a monolith. I do think that it is interesting when it comes to how some Mormons talk about support for Obama or even the thought of supporting Obama. The way it comes across, it’s as if the notion of voting in that direction is new and outside of the norm. To show what I’m on about here, I submit to you Adventures In Mormonism.

  42. T says:

    This comment thread has gone pretty well so far.

  43. stephen morleyq says:

    If you knew anything about that paper you wouldn’t say that it was mormon paper. If anything that paper is very left leaning and anti-mormon. The fact that they endorsed Obama suprised no one in Utah.

    You do have a zippy title to your article though. Its just false like most things in newspapers these days.

  44. Craig L. Foster says:

    If you believe the Salt Lake Tribune is a Mormon press then I guess you will also believe that Oregon really is nothing more than the northern extension of California.

    What? You don’t like that idea? Yeah, well that’s the way Mormons feel being told the anti-Mormon Salt Lake Tribune is a Mormon press.

  45. zune says:

    Poor research (or non-research). The SLT is anti-mormon currently and historically. Deseret News and SLT are two polar opposites.

  46. Timothy says:

    It’s not the newspapers in Utah that’re run by Mormons, it’s Utah that’s run by Mormons.

    Which makes me kind of sad, really, because parts of Utah are really beautiful and have excellent mountains. But, then there’s that whole, “No beer over 4.2% ABV” thing to contend with – so fuck that shit.

  47. Jason says:

    As soon as I saw your headline, I knew it was the Salt Lake Tribune you were talking about and that you probably think all newspapers in Utah are run by Mormons. As noted by the other comments, the Salt Lake Tribune continues to be antagonistic towards the LDS church even in the modern era. This antagonism was overt in the olden days. Now the Tribune criticizes the LDS church by showcasing any controversial news about Mormons or LDS church policy. The only surprise would be if the Tribune had supported McCain.

  48. Michael says:

    Your headline is mistaken. The Deseret News is the Mormon press (owned by the LDS Church, and inclined to publish editorials that reflect the church’s position on matters). The Salt Lake Tribune is not. It may have preferred Romney over Palin for the VP nomination, but the S.L.Tribune seldom reflects Mormon church views. If anything, it is seen as opposing the church, although that opposition is not as extreme now as it was decades ago. (Details are in the wikipedia entry on the salt lake tribune)

  49. Joel Campbell says:

    The Salt Lake Tribune is far from the “Mormon Press.” For most of its history the Trib has been the anti-Mormon newspaper in Utah, but that has evolved into a more balanced newspaper owned by the Catholic Kearns family and now owned by Media News. If you are looking for the newspaper owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then that would be the Deseret News. They have had a policy of not endorsing candidates for at least two decades. It’s interesting to note, along with the endorsement, they ran a column from Utah’s governor endorsing McCain. I have a feeling the staunch Republican owner Dean Singleton had something to do with that.

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