Stunner: WaPo Endorses Nuanced, Tolerant Obama

This ought to open the floodgates for all those non-partisan editorial pages to offer their approval for Obama. You see, they'd have given McCain a chance, but his campaign was so disappointing. As if they'd have endorsed him if they weren't so disappointed. I guess they expected him to just roll over.

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

Geez, could they jam any more lame cliches in there?

But Mr. Obama's temperament is unlike anything we've seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

He's eager to hear opposing points of view? Hmm. Maybe he ought to let his supporters know that. Somehow, I'm missing out on all this tolerance for opposing viewpoints. The way Joe the Plumber is being treated, harsher than William Ayers one would argue, is rather chilling.

In the zeal to tell us how nuanced Obama is, the anonymous WaPo editorial board neglects to mention a few facts.

* With 9/11 not far in the past, even casual ties to a bomber should turn off folks.

* So should his links to a pastor who thinks America got what it deserved on 9/11.

* As should his slur that US troops are "air-raiding villages and killing innocent civilians" - particularly given that McCain endured six years of torture on behalf of his country and fellow soldiers.

* Ditto for Obama's tax-hike plan, as recession looms.

* And his lack of accomplishment, at a time when the world situation demands experienced leaders.

* Then there's Obama's rating as the most liberal US senator, and his ties to socialists and radical leftists. That should cost him - stacked against McCain's record of centrism, standing up to his own party and joining with liberals like Ted Kennedy.

* Most damaging, you'd think, would be Obama's work with ACORN, which actually helped foment the current economic crisis by pushing banks to make bad loans. Obama was as wrong about the economy as he was about the surge. Don't folks care?

On the other hand, you can probably dismiss Obama's negatives and still wonder why he's ahead, given that he brings so few positives to the table: no national record, no great accomplishments, no experience.

I guess, on the other hand, anonymous editorials are alright. Whoever endorses McCain may want to stay in the shadows, given the left's famed tolerance for opposing points of view. Seems the editorial board doesn't even read their own news pages. Talk about intolerance.

The sign went up Sunday evening, bold black letters against the stark white background of the marquee at the Colony South Hotel & Conference Center in Clinton: "Country First. McCain/Palin."

By daybreak, pandemonium had broken loose all across heavily Democratic Prince George's County. Many local supporters of Democrat Barack Obama, jolted by the message as they headed down Branch Avenue on their Monday morning commutes, grabbed cellphones and BlackBerrys to notify friends. Operators of neighborhood e-mail group lists cried foul to their memberships. The NAACP logged calls. Community leaders demanded boycotts of the hotel, a common venue for Democratic events.

Some tolerance.