Dallas Morning News endorses Hillary Clinton

One day after a scathing editorial that declared Donald Trump unfit to serve as president, the Dallas Morning News has officially endorsed Hillary Clinton — the first time in more than 75 years that the newspaper has backed a Democrat for president.

“There is only one serious candidate on the presidential ballot in November,” the paper said on Wednesday. “We recommend Hillary Clinton.

“We don’t come to this decision easily,” the editorial board continued. “This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation’s highest office since before World War II — if you’re counting, that’s more than 75 years and nearly 20 elections. The party’s over-reliance on government and regulation to remedy the country’s ills is at odds with our belief in private-sector ingenuity and innovation. Our values are more about individual liberty, free markets and a strong national defense.”

But unlike Trump, Clinton has “experience in actual governance, a record of service and a willingness to delve into real policy,” the paper said:

In Clinton’s eight years in the U.S. Senate, she displayed reach and influence in foreign affairs. Though conservatives like to paint her as nakedly partisan, on Capitol Hill she gained respect from Republicans for working across the aisle: Two-thirds of her bills had GOP co-sponsors and included common ground with some of Congress’ most conservative lawmakers.

As President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state, she helped make tough calls on the Middle East and the complex struggle against radical Islamic terrorism.

The editorial board pointed to dozens of former national security advisers from previous Republican administrations who are backing Clinton as proof of her foreign policy bona fides.

And the board said that while Clinton’s “willingness to shade the truth” and “use of a private email server while secretary of state” are “real shortcomings,” they pale in comparison to Trump’s fearmongering and serial shifts on fundamental issues.”

“His improvisational insults and midnight tweets exhibit a dangerous lack of judgment and impulse control,” the paper said. “For all her warts, she is the candidate more likely to keep our nation safe, to protect American ideals and to work across the aisle to uphold the vital domestic institutions that rely on a competent, experienced president.”

Texas hasn’t voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1976. And according to Real Clear Politics’ average of the latest polling data, Trump currently holds an eight-point advantage over Clinton.

But in its editorial on Tuesday, the board told its readers that Trump “does not deserve your vote.” On Wednesday, it declared that Clinton does.

“Hillary Clinton has spent years in the trenches doing the hard work needed to prepare herself to lead our nation,” the paper concluded. “In this race, at this time, she deserves your vote.”