As a former daily newspaper editor, who never once endorsed anyone for political office while editor (I don’t believe that newspaper endorsements are wise editorial policy), I have been watching with interest the ferocious attention paid the newspaper endorsements this 2008 election cycle. In the old days, when the assumption was that newspapers were liberal-leaning, newspaper endorsements were derided by conservatives as evidence of an evil plot against them. Now that local paper ownership has consolidated to a rarefied form of corporate culture, it’s a lot easier for conservatives to cite all the new endorsements they’re getting as evidence of their moderate, altruistic nature. In truth, the business of newspaper endorsements is now, as it always was, subjective and mostly silly. As I’ve said, if I’m a newspaper editor offering an endorsement, all I’m really doing is offering a “letter to the editor” on steroids. Great. Now you know how the editor and his or her lackeys are voting. So what?
I’m a little charged up right now. See, on Friday, Sen. Norm Coleman cited his new endorsements from the International Falls Daily Journal and Duluth News-Tribune as “two new Iron Range endorsements.” I can guarantee you that the people of these towns don’t consider themselves Iron Rangers. The Iron Range is a very specific string of pro-labor, DFL towns connected to the business of iron mining stretching from Grand Rapids to Ely. The Falls and Duluth are economically tied to the Range, loosely in the case of the Falls, but are not Iron Range towns. These are both northern Minnesota towns, but the Range — all due respect — means something different. The Falls Journal has always been center right publication, and the DNT, though center left most of the year, has been center right on its endorsements since being bought by the conservative Fargo Forum group.
But I’m not here to complain about all that. Papers can endorse who they want. When Democrats have big leads in the polls, these papers often endorse them even when they hold identical political positions to Al Franken.
I again point out a few things, to my friends in northern Minnesota and those all across the state. First, Norm Coleman has had an Iron Range strategy that goes back a long way. He’s offered effusive support for any and all development projects on the Range, even ones that have no chance of ever becoming reality (yes, my old voodoo doll, the “clean coal” boondoggle from the lobbyist backed “Excelsior Energy”). And shaving 10-15 points off the strong DFL margins on the Iron Range was, my assumption, always part of that equation. I’ll grant Norm the possibility that he is operating off of hope for jobs on the Range; but the Range needs schools, pension protection and infrastructure more than it needs lobbyists and consultants to have more money and low expectations for results. Norm’s may have earned him several of these northern Minnesota newspaper endorsements, but it hasn’t done anything to improve the lives of actual northern Minnesota residents.
Here’s the thing. Al Franken is exactly what he is. Not perfect, but sincere. Extremely sincere. Emotional, yes, but also thoughtful and tough. Norm Coleman, in contrast, strives for sincerity while few Minnesotans — as few as none — know anything about his core values or what gets him out of bed each morning.
Enjoy the endorsements, Norm. They might get you closer to winning, but they don’t get you any closer to deserving to win. I don’t presume to know the outcome of Tuesday’s vote, but I do know that the newspaper editorial pages won’t have the last word.
And also, get to know the Iron Range. This Wikipedia entry lists in the first paragraph the difference between the Iron Range and the Arrowhead region. Wikipedia is, like, totally easy to find and stuff.
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