Press: To Endorse or Not

Voters who have had a hard time working up enthusiasm for either George Bush or Michael Dukakis have been learning from their local newspapers that they are not alone. Last week the trade weekly Editor & Publisher reported a surge, from 32% in 1984 to 55% this year, in the proportion of papers that had either decided not to endorse a candidate or remained undecided. Several that did endorse, including the New York Times and Dukakis’ hometown Boston Globe, voiced uneasiness about both men. And in a striking setback for Dukakis, the liberal Washington Post, which had endorsed every Democratic candidate for President starting with George McGovern in 1972, withheld its support from both contenders.

In a stinging editorial that called this year’s contest a “terrible campaign, a national disappointment,” the Post faulted Bush for rhetoric that was “divisive, unworthy and unfair,” but its pivotal objection was to what it saw as Dukakis’ weak grasp of foreign policy. Other papers sounded almost ) regretful at having to choose either man. The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer editorial-page editor, Ed Williams, said his paper backed Dukakis “unenthusiastically,” but pointed out that “voters do not enjoy the luxury of not endorsing.” The Times decried a “no-issue campaign” in which George Bush has run “irrelevantly, like someone seeking to be Grand Inquisitor” and Michael Dukakis has run “mechanically, like a candidate for Plant Superintendent.” What tipped the scales to Dukakis for the Times was the budget deficit and Bush’s plan to cut the capital-gains tax; for the Globe, it was Dan Quayle.

In fact, papers that wavered on Bush frequently cited Quayle as a reason. Some pro-Bush papers seemed to be endorsing the Reagan era more than embracing Bush himself. Said the Chicago Tribune: “All things considered, the Reagan legacy passing into the hands of a chosen and experienced heir looks like a better deal for the country than whatever new deal Governor Dukakis is trying to cook up.” Of the 772 papers polled by E&P, 241 were for Bush, 103 for Dukakis and 428 on the fence. But while Dukakis drew more endorsements than Walter Mondale did in 1984, if fewer than Jimmy Carter in 1980, E&P reported, Bush was endorsed by fewer papers than backed Ronald Reagan in either year.