The editorial board had endorsed the Republican nominee in every presidential election dating back to World War II, except for the 1964 election when it remained neutral between Democratic President Texan native Lyndon B. Johnson and Republican challenger Barry Goldwater. While acknowledging its past issues with Clinton's handling of "certain issues," the editorial board contrasted her "experience in actual governance" to Trump. "Resume vs. resume, judgment vs. judgment, this election is no contest," the op-ed continued, making note of the host of Republican hands backing Clinton, including Jim Glassman, the founding director of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas.
DMN: "We don't come to this decision easily. 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."Pronouncing Trump's values as "hostile to conservatism," the newspaper wrote that the Republican nominee "plays on fear — exploiting base instincts of xenophobia, racism and misogyny — to bring out the worst in all of us, rather than the best." In a separate editorial the DMN editorial board pronounced, "Donald Trump is not qualified to serve as president and does not deserve your vote."
"Hillary Clinton has spent years in the trenches doing the hard work needed to prepare herself to lead our nation," the editorial board concludes. "In this race, at this time, she deserves your vote."