Chicago Tribune endorses McCain, Obama: UPDATED

John McCain does it again, he wins another major newspaper endorsement, one close to home, for me that is, the Chicago Tribune.

It's a glowing endorsement. Free registration may be required for the link.

McCain, like his fading opponent Rudy Giuliani, projects rigor. Mike Huckabee, stricken with the ambition of so many former governors with nowhere to go, is out of his depth. Mitt Romney has the skill set of a superb Treasury secretary. But, thus far, he hasn't convinced us he would be McCain's equal in confronting that dangerous world of 2008.

Four years ago, in mulling candidates for president, we wrote that U.S. voters often make choices based on their pet causes and economic interests. But, we said, citizens of a nation at war against genuine global threats don't have that luxury. To reinforce the point we quoted a leader who wasn't on the ballot, John McCain: "So it is, whether we wished it or not, that we have come to the test of our generation, to our rendezvous with destiny. . . . All of us, despite the differences that enliven our politics, are united in the one big idea that freedom is our birthright and its defense is always our first responsibility. All other responsibilities come second."

Even before his rebound, McCain had a lot of support among the Illinois Republican Party apparatus--county chairman, state legislators, and other nuts-and-bolts members of the GOP.

Now to the Democrats: Barack Obama won the endorsement nod from the Tribune, but he'll have to cherry-pick the paragraphs if he's going to use any of the verbage from the Trib's editorial in any of his campaign literature.

This excerpt he'll like:

Obama can help this nation move forward. A Tribune profile last May labeled his eight years in Springfield as "a study in complexity, caution and calculation. In the minority party for all but his final two years in the Statehouse, he tempered a progressive agenda with a cold dash of realism, often forging consensus with conservative Republicans when other liberals wanted to crusade."

But the endorsement also scolds Obama for, you guessed it, his still-not completely explained ties to alleged-political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, declaring, "If Obama had dealt with the Rezko issue forthrightly long ago, it might rank in public memory with Clinton's remarkable success in cattle futures."

So true.

More...

Instead, as we've said, Obama has been too self-exculpatory. His assertion in network TV interviews last week that nobody had indications Rezko was engaging in wrongdoing strains credulity: Tribune stories linked Rezko to questionable fundraising for Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2004—more than a year before the adjacent home and property purchases by the Obamas and the Rezkos.

One more time, Senator:

You need to divulge all there is to know about that relationship. Until you do, the journalistic scrubbing and opposition research will intensify. You should have recognized Rezko as a political seducer of young talent. But given that you've not been accused of any crime or ethical breach, your Rezko history is not a deal-breaker.

Nor do we know of similar lapses during the 12 years we've been watching Obama.

Hillary Clinton is dismissed by the Tribune as someone who "unifies only her foes."

John Edwards? Who?

The Tribune doesn't mention him.

Illinois' primary election is on February 5, which is of course Super Tuesday.

UPDATE 10:00PM: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a poll of Illinois voters. Obama of course has a huge lead over former Chicago area resident Hillary Rodham Clinton. The former "Goldwater Girl" moved out of Illinois for good when she met Bill Clinton in the early 1970s.

On the GOP end, McCain has is favored by 31 percent of likely Illinois Republican voters, Romney trails with just 20 percent, and Rudy Giuliani, once the favorite to win Illinois, is a distant third with just 13 percent.

2nd UPDATE January 27: The Belleville News-Democrat also endorsed Obama and McCain. It's the most important Illinois paper Metro East, near St. Louis, part of the state.

Also, Pat Hickey of ....With Both Hands has the complete text, no registration required, of the Tribune endorsement of McCain.

Technorati tags: democrats elections 2008 Hillary Clinton Hillary Obama Barack Obama McCain Romney Republican Huckabee Mitt John Edwards Tony Rezko Illinois Chicago Tribune