The news today that the top newspaper in the home state of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has endorsed Democratic candidate Barack Obama for president is quite possible the final nail in the coffin for the Republican campaign.
It follows weeks of McCain trailing by double figures in the polls and comes just over a week before polling day itself. And despite McCain and Palin's numerous gaffes en route, this could be the knock-out blow.
In it's lead editorial, Alaska's Anchorage Daily News said governor Mrs Palin was "too risky" to be one step away from the presidency although "her nomination 'captivated' Alaskans.
It follows weeks of McCain trailing by double figures in the polls and comes just over a week before polling day itself. And despite McCain and Palin's numerous gaffes en route, this could be the knock-out blow.
In it's lead editorial, Alaska's Anchorage Daily News said governor Mrs Palin was "too risky" to be one step away from the presidency although "her nomination 'captivated' Alaskans.
The paper is known in the industry to stay more towards the liberals and backed the Democratic candidate in the last three presidential elections. Yet coming out and flying the flag for Obama in such a comprehensive dismissive fashion now is highly important, especially so as it described Mr McCain as the "wrong choice".The editorial states that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has "stumbled and fumbled badly" in dealing with the economic crisis: "[John McCain] embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years", it says. (Read the full editorial here).
The Republicans now have the choice of either accepting defeat or going gung-ho on the campaign trail in the swing states, perhaps for no overall outcome.
It surely is only a matter of time before Obama is elected and America finally has, in the words of the Anchorage Daily News, a "cool, steady hand" at the helm.
It surely is only a matter of time before Obama is elected and America finally has, in the words of the Anchorage Daily News, a "cool, steady hand" at the helm.
