When Rupert Murdoch spoke yesterday at Georgetown, he indicated that a long-standing Wall Street Journal tradition could be changed in 2008: The paper might endorse a presidential candidate.



The Journal has refrained from endorsing a presidential candidate for more than seven decades.



In a July 2007 editorial regarding the possible sale of Dow Jones, when Murdoch was only a suitor, the editorial board wrote the following:

"The Journal hasn't endorsed a Presidential candidate since Herbert Hoover, preferring instead to praise or assail the candidates' ideas."

But here's what the Journal reported yesterday:

Asked about endorsements for the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Mr. Murdoch said that "we haven't made up our minds yet." He noted The Wall Street Journal has a history of not endorsing presidential candidates, but The New York Post endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama during New York's Democratic presidential primary.



"I don't know what we'll do in the general election," Mr. Murdoch said.



Seems like Murdoch, whose NY Post endorsed Obama while attacking Clinton, is leaving open the window for the general election.

Deputy editorial page editor Daniel Henninger, when reached by Politico over e-mail, declined to comment.

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