If college newspaper endorsements determined election results, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would win, hands down.
Of the 68 college and university newspapers to endorse a presidential candidate — including The Flat Hat — all but two endorsed Obama over Republican presidential candidate John McCain, according to Editor & Publisher, a newspaper trade publication.
The Flat Hat’s editorial board endorsed Obama last Tuesday, along with Democratic Senatorial candidate Mark Warner and Democratic Congressional candidate Bill Day.
Student newspapers from Harvard University, Cornell University, Duke University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Texas-Austin and Amherst College were among those that endorsed Obama.
Of the 66 college newspapers to endorse Obama, 44 belonged to public universities.
The two newspapers that endorsed McCain were the University of Mississippi’s Daily Mississippian and The Criterion at Mesa State College in Colorado. Both schools are public.
The only other Virginia student newspaper to endorse a candidate was the Mace and Crown at Old Dominion University.
Nationally, McCain fared better among professional newspapers, although the majority still endorsed the Democrat.
Obama has received 273 professional newspaper endorsements, according to Editor & Publisher, but only one out of 11 Virginia newspapers have chosen to endorse the senator.
McCain received 142 professional newspaper endorsements and 10 Virginia newspaper endorsements, including The Daily Press and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Obama again wins in a circulation comparison; the newspapers endorsing McCain total a circulation of approximately 7.5 million while those endorsing Obama total a circulation of over 22 million.
