Endorsements

As I noted on Monday, when I mentioned Rep. Elijah E. Cummings' endorsement of Hillary Clinton, I haven't been routinely reporting endorsements of the Democratic candidates, for a few reasons, chiefly that I don't feel like most of them are inherently newsworthy. Which is not to say they don't matter, but reporting them without larger purpose feels like a sort of scorekeeping that I generally try to stay away from in my election coverage.

But as we get closer to the convention, there will be some endorsements that are newsworthy for reasons other than just the fact of the endorsement, so I will share those as I encounter them.

First up: Bernie Sanders has been endorsed by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. This is notable because Merkley is the first Senatorial endorsement that Sanders has gotten. All the other Senators who have endorsed anyone have endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Second: Hillary Clinton has been endorsed by longtime progressive activist and writer Tom Hayden. This is notable because Hayden used to support Sanders, but has changed his mind, because of Clinton's stronger support in communities of color.

And finally: The New York Daily News, whose dueling interviews with the candidates have received a lot of well-deserved attention, has endorsed Clinton. And they did not hold back: "On April 19, New York Democrats will have unusual say over the party's nominee. They have in Clinton a superprepared warrior realist. They have in opponent Bernie Sanders a fantasist who's at passionate war with reality."

Yowza.

I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

There will certainly be people (there already are) who are calling the New York Daily News a garbage rag in the bag for Clinton blah blah fart, but they have not shied away from criticizing Clinton. The day before their endorsement made the cover, their cover was lambasting Clinton for that skit with Mayor Bill de Blasio. And they feature columnists (Shaun King, for example) who are passionate Sanders supporters.

Frankly, I'm really impressed with the New York Daily News' approach. The editors did in-depth, substantive interviews with both candidates, posted video and transcript of those interviews online, and then made an endorsement based, in no small part, on those interviews, which are available for all the public to explore and assess for ourselves. It was a pretty impressive act of solid journalism and transparency.

More of that, please.