"Des Moines Register Picks Clinton and McCain"

Chris Cillizza (The Fix, WaPo):

The Des Moines Register endorsed Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) this evening, handing Clinton a boost of momentum with the crucial caucuses less than three weeks away.

The newspaper also endorsed Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the Republican presidential race. The Register, Iowa's statewide newspaper, described Clinton and McCain as the candidates it believes are most competent and ready to lead.

"With dissension at home and distrust abroad, as American troops continue to fight wars on two fronts, the times call for two essential qualities in the next American president," the Register's editorial board stated. "Those qualities became the paramount considerations in making endorsements for the Democratic and Republican nominees in the 2008 Iowa caucuses.

"The times call for competence. Americans want their government to work again. The times call for readiness to lead. Americans want their country to do great things again. They'll regain trust in their government when they see a president make that happen."

The Register's endorsement is one of the most coveted prizes of the Democratic presidential primary season. All three of the Democratic frontrunning candidates in Iowa -- Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) -- as well as many, many of their surrogates lobbied hard for the endorsement, believing, perhaps rightly, that a stamp of approval from the Register could put them over the top in this tight race.(Read Jeff Zeleny's terrific piece in the New York Times for more on the courtship efforts, especially by Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.)

"Of Clinton, the Register wrote: 'That readiness to lead sets her apart from a constellation of possible stars in her party, particularly Barack Obama, who also demonstrates the potential to be a fine president. When Obama speaks before a crowd, he can be more inspirational than Clinton. Yet, with his relative inexperience, it's hard to feel as confident he could accomplish the daunting agenda that lies ahead.'"

That paragraph essentially affirms the argument Clinton has been making on the campaign trail. Yes, Obama is an amazingly talented politician and leader but he is not yet ready for the tremendous responsibility that comes with being President of the United States.

Patti Solis Doyle, campaign manager for Clinton, said the campaign was "grateful to the editorial board and humbled by the confidence it has in Senator Clinton's ability to make change happen as president."

In 2004, the Register backed Edwards who at that point was still running behind better known candidates including former Gov. Howard Dean (Vt.), then Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.) and Sen. John Kerry (Mass.). Buoyed by the Register endorsement, Edwards surged in the final three weeks of the campaign, placing a strong second to Kerry and eventually winning a spot as the Massachusetts' Senator's running mate.

Four years earlier, the Register's endorsement had far less impact. It chose former Sen. Bill Bradley (N.J.) over then Vice President Al Gore but Gore rolled to a 63 percent to 35 percent victory.

Poll after poll shows the Democratic race within the statistical margin of error. On Friday alone, two polls came out; the first, conducted by Hotline/Diageo had Clinton and Obama knotted at 27 percent and Edwards slightly behind at 22 percent. The other survey, conducted by Research 2000 for the Quad-City Times showed Obama with 33 percent to 24 percent each for Clinton and Edwards.

Unlike in 2004, when the field was incredibly wide open, it's hard to see anyone outside of the Big 3 winning Iowa due to the large amount of money they have spent in the state on advertising and organization coupled with the loyalty each exerts on a base of at least 20 percent of voters.

For more on the fight for the endorsement and on the editorial board making that endorsement, click here and here.