Hillary Clinton got a boost from two large newspapers on Friday when both backed her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Tampa Bay Times and the Dallas Morning News both published editorials that lauded Clinton’s record and stances on issues, helping a Clinton campaign that is trying to focus more on March voting states after losing the New Hampshire primary.
“Democrats should vote for her March 1. She’s a better choice than another long-shot liberal senator, her surging rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont,” wrote the Dallas Morning News editorial board. “A better choice not because he’s too liberal to win in November, though he is. She’s better because over her lifetime, Clinton has learned to temper her idealism without losing it.”
Likewise, the Tampa Bay Times editorial board writes that Clinton, “has the skill and experience to appeal to general election voters and build on President Barack Obama’s record.”
In backing Clinton, the Florida paper also slighted Sanders. “There is no indication Sanders is prepared to effectively protect the United States from terrorists or manage the complicated relationships this nation must nurture around the world,” they write.
Neither newspaper endorsement was totally ringing, though. Both papers argue Clinton is an “imperfect” candidate.
“Clinton has made mistakes,” wrote the Dallas Morning News board. “She owed America a faster apology and still owes a clearer explanation for why she installed her own email server. The tragic and fatal failures in Benghazi happened under her watch. Her judgment in foreign affairs hasn’t been flawless.”
And the Tampa Bay Times argues Clinton “is an imperfect candidate with political baggage that would sink most other politicians.”
Clinton’s campaign has stepped up their focus on March 1 states since their candidate lost the New Hampshire primary earlier this week. The campaign is dispatching more staffers to those states and have started to tell reporters that the nomination will be won in March, not February.