NEWS: McCain endorsement claims on his website mislead!

"Over 50 Newspapers from the Early Primary States have Endorsed John McCain For President*"
(* - and by 'President' we mean 'Republican nominee')
According to John McCain website, the Baltimore Sun Newspaper endorses McCain. It citesan article, "Sun Endorsement: Betting On Change, Reform", that if you try to click their link produces a "The page cannot be found" message (note: the link is to a supposed copy of the article they have on their website).

This just felt weird... fundamentally. So I checked Wikipedia, and they had the Baltimore Sun under Obama's column.

But I wanted to be even more sure that I was truly informed, so I searched for the article's text. It's too far back (February 10, 2008)for me to retrieve from the Baltimore Online Archives, so I did a simple google search of the article's title and found the text on an "Obama Endorsements" blog.

The article is from the primaries, and it chooses McCain for the Republican nomination. But the endorsement is very lukewarm -- one could also say skeptical:

"He has stood his ground on tough issues such as immigration reform, campaign finance and torture, and we praised him for it. He is principled and has been willing to compromise. But his recent overtures to his party's conservative wing could undercut his appeal to independents.

Mr. McCain's passionate support of the Iraq war deeply concerns us. Despite the war's $10 billion monthly drain on the Treasury -- money urgently needed for domestic priorities -- he says he is willing to keep American troops in Iraq indefinitely."

Their support of McCain is more "if we had to choose a Republican", while the article praises both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama as having "the intellect and the skills to deliver". And of the two candidates, The Sun "strongly endorses Mr. Obama as the Democratic nominee for president".

The articles goes on to call him "a powerfully inspirational speaker, engaging listeners with energy and warmth as he describes his goals. That's the essence of leadership."

And the praise continues for many paragraphs:

"When Mr. Obama promises change, surprising numbers find the pledge credible. Despite his few years in the Senate, Mr. Obama exudes confidence and assesses the nation's problems with a fresh eye.

Mr. Obama is a powerfully inspirational speaker, engaging listeners with energy and warmth as he describes his goals. That's the essence of leadership. His conversations feel more heartfelt than calculating, which reminds us of President John F. Kennedy.

Mr. Obama is more likely to turn the page to a new era and deliver real change that is urgently needed to deal with the nation's economic, social and political problems."

I believe that the use of this article as an endorsement of McCain (over Obama) is ridiculously misleading, and that McCain's website, like his policies, are old and in need of reform change an update.