Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been endorsed by The Boston Globe editorial board ahead of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 8 in New Hampshire.
The board wrote that Obama, the Illinois Democrat, fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world,'' and that McCain, the Arizona Republican, ''has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States.''
The newspaper released early excerpts of its McCain and Obama endorsements, which will be published in full in Sunday's Globe and on Boston.com. The endorsements followed in-depth interviews with the presidential contenders.
Of Obama, the editorial board wrote that his diverse and international life experience was a plus. "The most sobering challenges that face this country — terrorism, climate change, disease pandemics — are global,'' the board wrote. "America needs a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Barack Obama has this understanding at his core.''
The board, noting that Obama would be the country's first post-Baby Boom president if elected, addressed his relative lack of Washington experience compared to several of his Democratic rivals. ''It is true that all the other Democratic contenders have more conventional resumes, and have spent more time in Washington,'' the board wrote. "But that exposure has tended to give them a sense of government’s constraints. Obama is more open to its possibilities.''
McCain was praised as a straight talker whose honesty at political cost might help a polarized nation. The board called him an antidote to the "toxic political approach'' of the last two presidential elections.
''McCain’s views differ from those of this editorial page in a variety of ways. Yet McCain’s honesty has served him well,'' the board wrote. "As a lawmaker and as a candidate, he has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States. He deserves the opportunity to represent his party in November’s election.''
