Bush’s Hometown Newspaper Endorses Kerry
Yes, Texas is not exactly what you’d call a “battleground state”. There is little doubt that the Lone Star State will lean heavily pro-Bush on November 2nd. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the entire state is marching blindly in lockstep behind Dubya. He can’t even get the endorsement of his hometown newspaper.
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - The newspaper in President Bush’s adopted hometown of Crawford threw its support on Tuesday behind Bush’s Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry.
The weekly Lone Star Iconoclast criticized Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq and for turning budget surpluses into record deficits. The editorial also criticized Bush’s proposals on Social Security and Medicare.
“The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda,” the newspaper said in its editorial. “Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry.”
It urged “Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country.”
Bush spends many of his weekends and holidays at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.
The Iconoclast’s publisher and editor-in-chief, W. Leon Smith, said the newspaper is sent to Bush’s ranch each week. “But I don’t know if he reads it,” Smith said.
Somehow I doubt The Iconoclast is on Dubya’s reading list. In fact, it probably has a featured place on the toilet paper roll in the master bathroom. Sure, The Iconoclast is “only” a small-town newspaper, but from where I sit, their endorsement of John Kerry is significant in that it shows that there are Texans who are willing to evaluate the candidates on the issues and on where they plan on taking our country.
In the final analysis, of course, the endorsement of one small-town Texas newspaper likely won’t amount to much. Even so, it should make you wonder. If people who know and live near George W. Bush won’t endorse him, shouldn’t that be a red flag to the rest of us?
