Alabama. The reddest of the red. If Republicans win nowhere else, they still win in ‘Bama. Put it in the bank.
So it was a bit shocking today to read this sentence in the states largest newspaper:
“Donald Trump must not be president.”
The Birmingham News, the bastion of conservatism in the deep south endorses the Democrat for president?
“The 2016 election is not a choice between two candidates equally fit to serve, or a choice between the ideology of two parties,” the editorial reads. “Trump is a unique threat and in an election where supporting third party candidates splits a national vote, we see but one option. Clinton may be the second least popular major party candidate in 50 years but she is also one of the most qualified candidates in history. And ultimately, if it isn’t her, it’s him. And that would be a disaster for America and the world.”
Are you sensing how historic this election has become? A Republican nominee so wounded that the Birmingham News says this about him:
“He is a narcissistic, childish bully who has mocked women, Americans with disabilities, veterans, Gold Star families, judges, immigrants, the working poor, people of faith, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, refugees, people with weight issues and any other group that challenges his inflated view of himself. A Trump presidency could send the Republican Party down a dark, exclusionary path, that would be tough to recover from. He is both privately and publicly at odds with much that Alabamians value.”
The editorial is historic not just for its attack on Trump, but for its solid support of Hillary Clinton.
“We’ve watched Clinton weather every challenge — public and personal — that’s faced her over the last 30 years and, unlike Donald Trump’s late night Twitter meltdowns, Clinton has consistently remained presidential in her response and demeanor. In truth, her presidency is fairly easy to predict.”
The Birmingham News is not alone. Just this morning the Columbus Dispatch endorsed its first Democrat in 100 years, calling Trump a “narcissistic, morally bankrupt candidate.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial endorsed Clinton last week, predicting Donald Trump would be “the most unstable, proudly uninformed, psychologically unfit president ever to enter the White House.”
The top circulated paper in the country, USA Today, has never taken a side in a presidential race, but last week called Trump “erratic, ill-equipped, prejudiced, reckless and a serial liar.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed its first Democrat ever, calling Trump “vengeful, dishonest and impulsive” while Clinton has “the experience, background and relationships with world leaders that we need in a president.”
The Arizona Republic had never endorsed a Democrat in its 126 year history but they endorsed Clinton saying, “Clinton has the temperament and experience to be president, Donald Trump does not.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer had not endorsed a Democrat in 100 years, but endorsed Clinton, slamming Trump as a “clear and present danger” to the country.
In Texas, the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle both endorsed the Democrat for the first time in decades. The Morning News blasted Trump, saying his “values are hostile to conservatism. He plays on fear, exploiting base instincts of xenophobia, racism and misogyny, to bring out the worst in all of us, rather than the best.” The Chronicle wasn’t any nicer, saying Trump “is a danger to the Republic.”
Still, Alabama’s largest paper endorsing Clinton? That really says something about the state of this race.