The Stockton, California Record, a Republican newspaper,
today endorsed Barack Obama, the first Democrat for President it has
endorsed since the second term of FDR.



Editorial
Choice is clear: Obama for president

Barack Obama is our choice for president of the United States.

He has demonstrated time and again he can think on his feet. More
importantly, he has demonstrated he will think things through, seek
advice and actually listen to it.

Obama is a gifted speaker. But in addition to his smarts and energy,
possibly his greatest gift is his ability to inspire.

For eight years, American politics has been marked by smears, fears and
greed. For too long, we've practiced partisanship in Washington, not
politics. The result is a cynicism every bit as deep as that which
infected the nation when Richard Nixon was shamed from office and when
Bill Clinton brought shame to the office.

This must end, but John McCain can't do it. He can't inspire, nor can he
really break from a past that is breaking this nation.

McCain is an American hero, and he has served this country in the Senate
with determination. He has gone against his party, but the fact is his
ties to the Bush administration and its policies are deep. Americans
know we cannot keep going down this path.

McCain, who has voted consistently for deregulation, started off two
weeks ago declaring the U.S. economy fundamentally sound but ended the
week sounding like a populist. Who is he really?

He tends to shoot from the hip and go on gut instinct. The nation cannot
go through four more years of literally and figuratively shooting now
and asking questions later.

But the fact is, we worry he won't have four years. If elected, at 72,
he would be the oldest incoming president in U.S. history. He's in good
health now, we're told, although he has withheld most of his medical
records. That means Gov. Sarah Palin could very well become president.

And that brings us to McCain's most troubling trait: his judgment.

While praiseworthy for putting the first woman on a major-party
presidential ticket since Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, his selection of
Palin as a running mate was appalling. The first-term governor is
clearly not experienced enough to serve as vice president or president
if required. Her lack of knowledge is being covered up by keeping her
away from questioning reporters and doing interviews only with those
considered friendly to her views.

We're not suggesting Obama is without faults. He, like McCain, has
demonstrated a marked lack of knowledge in recent days about the
financial mess facing this nation.

But unlike McCain, who is trying to position himself as a born-again
regulator, Obama would increase the oversight of our markets and demand
accountability. He would actually put regulators in the oversight
agencies that were systematically dismantled by the Bush administration.
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