Washington Post endorses Democrat Al Gore for President

Washington, Oct 22: The influential US newspaper The Washington Post on Sunday endorsed Democrat Al Gore as the next US President, calling him the "better qualified candidate" for the position. "Mr. Gore is surely among the best prepared and most intelligent nominees of recent years, with a distinguished record of sensible internationalism and moderate domestic liberalism," the paper wrote in a Sunday editorial. The editorial compared the relative merits and priorities of the incumbent vice President with his rival, Texas Governor George W. Bush, while also criticizing both candidates for their inability to "communicate a (similar) sense of inner conviction." The candidates’ differences in awareness of foreign policy was a mitigating factor for the editorial board that chose to endorse Gore. The Post argued that "Mr. Bush has done little to demonstrate…that he himself has any feel for or particular interest in the world," and that all signs of his potential for leadership on an international level "pointto a crabbed, tentative, narrow view of US interests and US leadership." Conversely, the Post said, "Mr. Gore is rich in experience and understanding of foreign policy," and has "generally made principled and far-seeing choices." The Post also lauded Gore’s commitment to campaign Finance reform, to preserving the environment, to affirmative action, abortion rights and gun control. Gore’s fiscal policy, centered around a series of small tax cuts and a modest plan for steady contributions to paying down the national debt, helped win the Democrat an endorsement from the Post. Bush’s plan, which provides a sizable tax cut for a disproportionately small and wealthy segment of the population, would "stand the government with few resources to help the poor when the economy turns sour or to help those whom prosperity has not reached." Though the major newspapers of the United States, with some notable exceptions, try to remain non-biased in their coverage of politics and elections, most choose to make endorsements ofpolitical candidates in national and local elections. ft/lg/mac