Clinton scores a big one

Today the NY Times endorsed N.Y. Senator Hillary Clinton as their choice for the Democratic nomination for president. Amen! She's a well tested leader and the NY Times endorses her today with first hand experience of that. However, the home team advantage didn't have any outsized influence in that stand. In their endorsement for Sen. John McCain as the Repbublican candidate they went out of their way to diss former NYC Mayor Giuliani, the 9/11 mayor at that, "whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man.."

I applaud the Times' choice. Hoopla aside, Sen. Clinton has always seemed the most intelligent choice; on record, on experience, on tensile strength and most importantly on balance. I wince at the intended and unintended mysogyny that she has had to face. But I have to admire her dignity in facing it. At the end of the day, it has done little but to rally support around her.

Like the Times, I am "not denying Mr. Obama’s appeal or his gifts." I noted in these pages months before he even entered the race, his appeal, his magnetism, his eminently inspiring voice. But it's not enough for this race. As former President Bill Clinton himself said recently, I look forward to voting for him someday. I just don't think this November 4 is the right day. However, if it turns out that he is the candidate, well then it will be. He'd likely make a good president, I just don't think he'd make as good a president as Hillary Clinton.

But more importantly, there is a sushi crisis in NY -- mercury in the tuna -- and the NY Metro report used the opportunity to pull a side-splitting sendup of the campaigns. Samples:

"We need a president who can get past the tired, old partisan divisions that pit one kind of fish against another," Mr. Obama said. "It’s fine to get the mercury out of tuna. But all fish are in this together. We can’t rest until we have safe sushi of all types, all across this great land. To those who say we aim too high, we say, ‘Yes, we can.’ "

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton warned against "false hopes" that the sushi menace would soon be over. She declined to pledge that, if elected, she would have all mercury out of tuna within four years. "But I can promise," Mrs. Clinton said, "that on Day One, I will be ready for action..."

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain repeated a line from just before the New Hampshire primary. "I’m too old to be scared," he said. "My friends, we’ve been through hard times before, but we can overcome this transcendent challenge."

Well worth the read.