Editorial Board, The News Leader

Donald Trump was right.

At the end of the Oct. 9 town-hall debate, he said of his opponent, Hillary Clinton: “She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. … She’s a fighter.”

Clinton’s remarkable resilience has shown itself many times in recent decades, during private and public crises. Repeatedly, she has refused to buckle.

Those of us waiting for America to be “great again” would do well to watch a woman who, through every challenge, did not surrender to anger and self-pity, but marched onward to higher ground in bigger arenas. Her tenacity is unparalleled in modern American politics.

Clinton is also well prepared for the presidency. She fully understands the demands of the office in ways only an eight-year first spouse could. During her term in the U.S. Senate, she earned the respect of even her Republican colleagues. As secretary of state, she tirelessly traveled to 112 countries, working for peace and repairing relationships left strained by the reckless foreign adventures of the Bush administration. Her efforts were not uniformly successful, but she became trusted the world over, something her opponent never will be.

We endorse her without hesitation.

Hillary Clinton is far from perfect. She has earned some of the ample distrust heaped upon her. We do not dismiss questions about The Clinton Foundation and most especially concerns about her use of a private email server for official State Department communication. She is no doubt loaded with grade A Washington hubris. When questioned, she too often exhibits a shadowy defensiveness, honed in response to foes who have had her in their cross-hairs for decades.

The Benghazi investigation is but one example of the politically motivated scandals manufactured by those foes. Former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice agree that it is a “witch hunt.” So do we. Clinton’s performance during the 11-hour congressional committee hearing on Benghazi demonstrated yet again her resolve and, yes, her stamina.

As president, Hillary Clinton will make mistakes. But she will not be the risk to our democratic nation and to a stable world that a Trump administration would represent. With Clinton, our literal survival will not rest on the whims of an unstable, childish narcissist with nuclear codes who seeks revenge at every perceived slight.

We wish Clinton faced a worthy opponent. Had Republicans more wisely nominated a prepared, stronger candidate, The News Leader might not have felt compelled to continue our long practice of making presidential endorsements. In local races, where we have better access and insight, such endorsements make more sense, not because we believe at all that we’re dictating votes, but rather because we have something to say in the pre-election discussion.

This year, though, Donald Trump’s dangerous presence on the ballot forces us to speak, for the preservation of our nation and our ideals. And the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Many Trump voters are understandably angry. They feel ignored by a party that has pandered to them for decades without delivering the goods. With a populist strongman like Trump, they’re exacting their revenge on party elites, without whom they have no chance of electoral success. Until now the GOP never fully appreciated that it, too, was a coalition party, not a monolith. By Nov. 9, it might be neither.

It is sad to see these voters so misled. Trump has neither the integrity nor capability to keep a single promise he makes, whether it’s a wedding vow or a pledge of Supreme Court justices to come. He has, though, shown us which political hacks are willing to stand with him, putting party and power above principle. He has shown us that our country’s struggles with racism, misogyny and nativism are far from over.

America has not been her best self in the campaign of 2016. We must find a way to work together to solve the complex problems of a changing economy and shifting culture. Of the candidates on the ballot, Hillary Clinton is the obvious choice to blaze a forward trail. She has been doing just that all her life.

If her political opponents obstruct Clinton in the manner that President Obama’s have, her perseverance, agility and collegial relationships on Capitol Hill will serve her and the country well. Trump’s current scorched-earth campaign might create a Congress less hostile to working across the aisle for our common good.

Our hope is that America has learned something from the harbored divisions that continue to hold us hostage. On many issues of the day, common ground is reachable by people who are willing to shake hands, work together and solve problems. Hillary Clinton is the kind of leader who not only wants to achieve these much-needed win-wins, but will.

Our View represents the opinion of thenewspaper’s

editorial board: Roger Watson,president; David Fritz,

executive editor; andDeona Landes Houff,

communityconversations editor.