New York Times Endorses Hillary Clinton (UPDATED)

As expected, the New York Times is endorsing Hillary Clinton, making the case for her, and promising to deal with the "worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history" Donald "Rump Trump in a Monday editorial:

In any normal election year, we’d compare the two presidential candidates side by side on the issues. But this is not a normal election year. A comparison like that would be an empty exercise in a race where one candidate — our choice, Hillary Clinton — has a record of service and a raft of pragmatic ideas, and the other, Donald Trump, discloses nothing concrete about himself or his plans while promising the moon and offering the stars on layaway. (We will explain in a subsequent editorial why we believe Mr. Trump to be the worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history.) 

But this endorsement would also be an empty exercise if it merely affirmed the choice of Clinton supporters. We’re aiming instead to persuade those of you who are hesitating to vote for Mrs. Clinton — because you are reluctant to vote for a Democrat, or for another Clinton, or for a candidate who might appear, on the surface, not to offer change from an establishment that seems indifferent and a political system that seems broken. 

Running down the other guy won’t suffice to make that argument. The best case for Hillary Clinton cannot be, and is not, that she isn’t Donald Trump.

The best case is, instead, about the challenges this country faces, and Mrs. Clinton’s capacity to rise to them.

There follows a thorough description of the passion, service, temperament, and tenacity Ms. Clinton would bring to the Presidency in these dangerous times (a good read).  It concludes with a not- subtle swipe at toddler Rump:

Through war and recession, Americans born since 9/11 have had to grow up fast, and they deserve a grown-up president. A lifetime’s commitment to solving problems in the real world qualifies Hillary Clinton for this job, and the country should put her to work.

"... a grown up president."  What a state of affairs we've reached when only one of the candidates running for president can clear that minimal threshold (and, yes, we're including "Scary Gary" Johnson and Dr.! Jill "WiFi" Stein).  Luckily, we Democrats have that candidate in Ms. Clinton.

UPDATE:  Maybe they should pass the word to their Trump- promoting "news" operation.

New York Times Endorses Hillary Clinton

Someone pass the smelling salts to MoDo!

For the past painful year, the Republican presidential contenders have been bombarding Americans with empty propaganda slogans and competing, bizarrely, to present themselves as the least experienced person for the most important elected job in the world. Democratic primary voters, on the other hand, after a substantive debate over real issues, have the chance to nominate 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. 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. The Times editorial board has endorsed her three times for federal office — twice for Senate and once in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary — and is doing so again with confidence and enthusiasm.

Again, in the interest of fair play, here's the closer of The Nation's endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (via the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle):

Clinton’s closing ad before Iowa makes her central argument clear: Trust her. She’s experienced and committed. She’ll keep Republicans from taking away the progress we’ve made. Sanders’s ad makes his argument clear: Trust yourself. Come together, take back the country and make this nation better. The first appeals to the head; the latter to the heart. But even the most hard-headed pragmatist might think the latter has as good a chance at getting elected and a better chance of forcing change than the former.

Iowa caucuses are on Monday, February 1;  New Hampshire's primary is on February 9.  Then we'll see how accurate the polls and how effective the campaigns have been.  Don't expect this to be over soon.

BONUS:  Wonkette reminds us how many times the Times "news" staff has tried to screw over Clinton just in the past 6 months or so: 

Oh, and congratulations on picking up the big New York Times endorsement! Maybe they feel bad about all the times they screwed up the email story over the summer?

No cognitive dissonance here folks, move along, move along!