In a move that will surprise absolutely nobody, the New York Times endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday.
The paper said that its endorsement is “rooted in respect for her intellect, experience and courage.”
In making its endorsement, the Times drew a sharp contrast between Clinton, who served as a senator for New York from 2001 to 2009, and her political rival, GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“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,” the paper said.
Even so, the paper said, it’s endorsing Clinton on her merits, and not the perceived lack of such on Trump’s part.
“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 Times’ endorsement read. “The best case is, instead, about the challenges this country faces, and Mrs. Clinton’s capacity to rise to them.”
“The 2016 campaign has brought to the surface the despair and rage of poor and middle-class Americans who say their government has done little to ease the burdens that recession, technological change, foreign competition and war have heaped on their families,” the paper continued in its endorsement of the former first lady and secretary of state. “Over 40 years in public life, Hillary Clinton has studied these forces and weighed responses to these problems. Our endorsement is rooted in respect for her intellect, experience, toughness and courage over a career of almost continuous public service, often as the first or only woman in the arena.”
The paper also said that, while Clinton’s gaffes and attacks on her character have created “distorted perceptions” of the candidate, “She is one of the most tenacious politicians of her generation, whose willingness to study and correct course is rare in an age of unyielding partisanship.”