Trump has turned all media against him
The frustration is mounting. It was not a good week for Donald Trump, following the release of a tape on which he uses crude language to describe lewd, uninvited encounters with women. Then, during the second presidential debate, he threatened his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, with jail time, if he’s elected.
Momentum toward the Nov. 8 election shifted dramatically again, to Clinton. Republicans are facing the reality that eight years may become 12 years with a Democrat in the Oval Office should Clinton be elected, and polls show we’re headed that way.
The fingers of blame are being pointed, as always. It’s the influence of the liberal media, many believe.
At the local level, the media usually escape the storm. But not this year. The Reporter-News has come under fire for publishing anti-Trump pieces on its op-ed pages, though those by far are the most prevalent. The attacks on Clinton have waned under the avalanche of opinion against Trump, even from those columnists who have targeted Clinton’s honesty and policies. Trump, at best, is the alternative but on his way he is generating little, if any, support.
We did a little looking around this week and came upon a Wikipedia list of daily newspapers that support a candidates. Of 135 newspapers listed, zero endorsed Trump.
That’s newspapers in all parts of the country, not just the so-called left-leaning East Coast or the accused crazies on the West Coast. The count reads 110 for Clinton, 10 that will not make an endorsement, nine that did not support Clinton but firmly stated a “Not Trump” opinion and six for Libertarian Gary Johnson.
That’s an unheard tally, and underscores the historic strangeness of this election. Trump has voter support and stampeded his way to the Republican nomination. Yet, from his own party leadership especially to the media, and most points in between, he is universally disliked. And that’s putting it mildly, in most cases.
A further study showed only one daily newspaper in support of Trump — the Santa Barbara NewsPress in California. Take that however you might.
The dailies include newspapers that supported Mitt Romney in 2012 (from the Houston Chronicle to the Tulsa World to the Birmingham News to the New York Daily News), and newspapers that always go Republican, or have for decades.
Those include:
The Dallas Morning News: First Democrat endorsed in 75 years.
Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampshire): Johnson, first non-Republican in 100 years.
Arizona Republic: First Democrat endorsed in 126 years.
Columbus Dispatch and Cincinnati Enquirer: First Democrat endorsed in 100 years.
Detroit Free Press: Johnson, its first non-Republican in 143 years
USA Today, historically has stayed away from making a political stand. But not this year. It went the Not Trump route.
Weeklies, magazines and campus newspapers: Clinton or Not Trump.
As for tawdry Trump vs. crooked Clinton, or the alternatives, it would seem by now voters know which buttons they’ll push in the voting booth. Will there be more straight-party Republican votes this time, a way to support the party and down-ballot candidates without actually pulling the trigger for Trump? That may well be the case.
Texas is one of 10 states with the straight-party option this election.
A woman who was displeased with the anti-Trump pieces that she has read on our pages ended her phone conversation by saying she still one more option: Praying about what will happen Nov. 8.
That’s probably something those on either side of this election can agree on. — The Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News