Dallas Morning News Endorses Clinton, Its First Democratic Choice For President Since WWII

The Dallas Morning News endorsed Hillary Clinton for president today. It's the first time the newspaper's editorial board has recommended a Democrat for president in a general election since World War II.

"Resume vs. resume, judgment vs. judgment, this election is no contest," the newspaper's editorial board wrote, adding, "This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since before World War II — if you're counting, that's more than 75 years and nearly 20 elections."

The Dallas paper joins the Houston Chronicle in endorsing the Democrat. When the Chronicle announced its endorsement in July, it called Clinton's Republican opponent, Donald Trump, "a danger to the Republic."

Today's endorsement comes a day after a Washington Post/Survey Monkey poll showed Clinton with a slight lead over Trump tied in Texas -- a state that has gone Republican for two decades. Most other polls have shown Trump with a solid lead in the state.

'Only one serious candidate'

Keven Ann Willey, editor of The Dallas Morning News editorial page, told Texas Standard they didn’t come to the decision easily.

“Our determination is that, frankly, there is only one serious candidate on the ballot in November – and that is Hillary Clinton,” Willey says.

Endorsing Clinton was “by far and away” the prevalent opinion on the board, but Willey says there are “varying degrees of enthusiasm” about it.

“We have been critical of Hillary Clinton in the past,” she says, “for a variety of things, including the fact that her use of a private email server while Secretary of State was a clear example of poor judgment… But we think that those shortcomings or those mistakes that she’s made are just plainly in a different universe than those of her opponent.”

Listen to the Texas Standard interview

An argument on the conservatives’ side to support Trump centers on the potential vacancies of the Supreme Court.

“We have a candidate who’s running who claims he’s a Republican and conservative,” she says, “and yet if you believe in the principles of the Republican party – things like individual liberty, free markets, economic conservatism, strong national defense – he is not any of those things.”

Willey says Trump’s temperament makes him an unreliable candidate for the Republican party.

“Given his volatility,” she says, “it’s hard to believe what comes out of his mouth.”

Texas Standard contributed to this report.