Tribune Endorses Gary Johnson In Latest Editorial Stunt

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 30, 2016 2:34PM

Updated 2:00 p.m. You know that intransigent Bernie-bro friend of yours on Facebook who insists (loudly) on voting third party. The Tribune Editorial Board sorta just became that guy—except without the demonstrated history of supporting political alternatives that your friend probably has, of course. The Editorial Board on Friday endorsed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president.

“We reject the cliche that a citizen who chooses a principled third-party candidate is squandering his or her vote,” the Board writes. That’s a defensible position, but segments of the endorsement call into question its own claim that no false proportionality exists between Trump and Clinton.

“We see no rough equivalence between Trump and Clinton," the Board writes. "Any American who lists their respective shortcomings should be more apoplectic about the litany under his name than the one under hers. He couldn't do this job. She could.”

On Trump:

"The Republicans have nominated Donald Trump, a man not fit to be president of the United States. We first wrote on March 10 that we would not, could not, endorse him. And in the intervening six-plus months he has splendidly reinforced our verdict: Trump has gone out of his way to anger world leaders, giant swaths of the American public, and people of other lands who aspire to immigrate here legally. He has neither the character nor the prudent disposition for the job."

On Clinton:

"Hillary Clinton, who, by contrast, is undeniably capable of leading the United States. Electing her the first woman president would break a barrier that has no reason to be. We see no rough equivalence between Trump and Clinton. Any American who lists their respective shortcomings should be more apoplectic about the litany under his name than the one under hers. He couldn't do this job. She could."

The endorsement then digs into Clinton, namely “her intent to greatly increase federal spending and taxation, and serious questions about honesty and trust”—a curiously right-wing push for a paper that in the past endorsed Barack Obama. The Board cites the Libya attack, an evasive answer given about the Keystone pipeline, and spending increase proposals for "mostly for college education, paid family leave, infrastructure and health-related expenditures" as deal-breakers. We won't defend her handling of Libya, but just those together taste like some pretty thin soup.

On Johnson:

"With that demand for a principled president paramount, we turn to the candidate we can recommend. One party has two moderate Republicans — veteran governors who successfully led Democratic states — atop its ticket. Libertarians Gary Johnson of New Mexico and running mate William Weld of Massachusetts are agile, practical and, unlike the major-party candidates, experienced at managing governments. They offer an agenda that appeals not only to the Tribune's principles but to those of the many Americans who say they are socially tolerant but fiscally responsible. "Most people are Libertarian," Johnson told the Tribune Editorial Board when he and Weld met with us in July. "It's just that they don't know it."

And if you're curious, no, there's no mention of Aleppo.

The Board has been publishing a lot of head-scratchers lately, including their decision that Monday's debates were essentially a draw, and drawing comparisons between the Chicago Teachers Union and North Korea. This endorsement feels like the latest in that line, not because third-party candidates shouldn't be taken seriously, even in the time of Trump, but because they just never mount a compelling enough case, especially in the time of Trump.

Is the @chicagotribune endorsement of Gary Johnson located in today’s entertainment section?

— Peter Margasak (@pmarg) September 30, 2016

the trib endorsed obama and now argues that clinton is far outside the mainstream. the overton window mostly moves right via sloppiness

— Whet Moser (@whet) September 30, 2016

Reminder that @Trib_ed_board refused to endorse either Clinton or Sanders in the primary, endorsed Rubio (like Johnson) as "principled."

— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) September 30, 2016

We shoulda known the Chicago Tribune was losing its mind when they changed the name of their company to TRONC. Hot mess.

— Awesomely Luvvie (@Luvvie) September 30, 2016

Update: The Sun-Times published its endorsement of Hilary Clinton Friday afternoon. Vote for Clinton, the Sun-Times editorial says, to "avert a trainwreck." Need more reason?

Hillary Clinton has the potential to be an excellent president. She is eminently qualified by any measure — experience, knowledge, character or temperament.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has the makings of a miserable, even dangerous, president. There is no getting around it. In every way Clinton is strong, Trump is weak. In every way she has earned the job over a lifetime of public service, he has disqualified himself, serving nobody but himself.

The editorial also takes a swipe at the Tribune Editorial Board people who encourage voting for a third-party candidate:

Allow us, as well, a special shout-out to those who understand what a danger Trump represents but are cool to Clinton: A vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, a man who could not even pass a basic world geography test, is not a principled protest gesture. It is a retreat to the sidelines.