In an age when the broadsheets are struggling and anyone can make their own mini-endorsements on Twitter or Facebook, do newspaper endorsements still matter? The Democratic Governor nominee better hope so. She's walked away with the support of every major newspaper's editorial board in the state. That's an almost unheard of clean sweep.
Sink has picked up the endorsements of The St. Petersburg Times, The Miami Herald, The Orlando Sentinel, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida Today, The Florida Times-Union, The Tampa Tribune,The Palm Beach Post, The Fort Myers News-Press, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Bradenton Herald, The Tallahassee Democrat, and even Rick Scott's "hometown" paper The Naples Daily News.
Not a single paper has endorsed Republican Rick Scott as of yet, and the only papers that haven't made endorsements have relatively small circulations. His supporters might decry "the liberal press," but it's also interesting to note that not a single paper has stood up to endorse the Democrat in the Senate race and have split their endorsements between Republican Marco Rubio and independent Charlie Crist. [Update: The Lakeland Ledger endorsed Meek. They've not yet made a gubernatorial endorsement.]
The common thread of most pro-Sink editorials are that she has the experience and ideas to lead Florida, is much less ideological driven than Scott, and, oh yeah, didn't run a company that racked up record-setting Medicare fraud fines.
Here's a sampling.
The St. Pete Times:
Sink has proven herself as a solid fiscal conservative on the state Cabinet. She pushed to reduce the state's financial exposure after a hurricane. She has been the steady voice challenging the State Board of Administration to improve its accountability in investing the state pension fund and other government money. And when some Cabinet members wavered on drilling in state-owned waters, Sink stood firm, understanding the risk to the tourism and fishing industries. After the BP oil spill, her office quickly responded to help those Floridians most in need.The Miami Herald:
Just as divided government -- requiring bipartisan consensus to approve meaningful legislation -- would benefit Washington, it should prove politically healthy in the state capital. The choice comes down to a smart, competent and conscientious public official with a good track record and a one-time business executive with a worrisome record.The Orlando Sentinel:
The former president of Bank of America's Florida's operation, now finishing up a distinguished four-year term as Florida's chief financial officer, Ms. Sink's hardly a Tallahassee insider. And if Mr. Scott knew his basic civics, he'd know she had nothing to do with the state's high unemployment or budget difficulties. The budget's the responsibility of the governor and the Legislature.
