Penn paper backs Clinton
Though Obama seems the campus favorite, editors decide to "go against the grain."
Student-newspaper editorial boards across the nation have overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama, perhaps proving that a youngish guy with a multicultural background is way cooler than a middle-aged mom who grew up in the suburbs.
But the mom scored a big endorsement this week from the Daily Pennsylvanian at the University of Pennsylvania, even as a new poll showed that Hillary Rodham Clinton lagged far behind Obama among Democratic student voters on the Penn campus.
The Penn Dems, a campus student political group, had already given its support to Obama.
The Pennsylvanian nod was just the fourth college-paper endorsement for Clinton compared with 45 for her opponent, who has gone after young voters the way video game companies target fraternity house slackers.
"We go against the grain when appropriate," said David Lei, the paper's executive editor. "We really did think she was the better candidate."
The paper also endorsed John McCain as the Republican candidate.
"We want to believe that Sen. Barack Obama can accomplish all he promises," the endorsement said on Thursday. "But while Obama's charisma far outshines that of Sen. Hillary Clinton, her public service, political experience and tenacity tell us not only 'Yes, we can' but also 'How we can.' As such, we endorse Clinton for the Democratic Party's nomination for president."
The Clinton campaign was so ecstatic, it sent the editorial to reporters.
"We were very excited about it," said spokesman Brendan Gilfillan.
Just the day after the campus newspaper gave Clinton its support, it published a CBS News poll showing that among Penn students, 73 percent of registered Democrats favored Obama compared with 26 percent for Clinton.
Lei said that he did not know about the poll when he cowrote the editorial, but that it would not have made a difference.
The endorsement was a big surprise for Penn's small but fervent band of Clinton supporters, who have worked to promote their candidate despite the Penn Dems' March 5 backing of Obama.
"I was ecstatic," said Julie Siegel, chairwoman of Penn for Hillary.
The Penn Dems supported Obama because "he best represents our constituency and he's got the most progressive values to actually beat John McCain," said president Lauren Burdette.
Most college campuses are Obama-friendly. A recent CBS News/UWire poll of 2,366 undergraduates at 14 colleges in Pennsylvania found that students favored Obama to Clinton by 71 percent to 28 percent.
It also found they preferred either Democrat over McCain.
In the end, a college newspaper endorsement may have little impact on a campaign.
"It's like preaching to the choir," said Adam Goldstein, an attorney at the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.
With just days until the primary, most school papers are staying out of the fray, including those at Temple, Drexel, Villanova and St. Joseph's Universities and Swarthmore College.