During a Feb. 5 campaign stop at Exeter Town Hall in New Hampshire, a supporter holds a copy of the Phillips Exeter Academy school newspaper, the Exonian, which endorsed Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee. | AP Photo Clinton dominating Sanders in newspaper endorsement primary

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fought to a draw on Wednesday: neither candidate won the endorsement of Chicago's biggest newspaper.

The Chicago Tribune opted to endorse Marco Rubio on the Republican side but declined to endorse on the Democratic side, marking a rare instance where a major metropolitan daily failed to recommend Clinton.


The Democratic frontrunner has so far dominated the newspaper endorsement primary, winning the imprimatur of 40 daily newspapers across the map – The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, just to name a few.

In comparison, Sanders has scooped up just a small handful: the Seattle Times, the Quad-City Times, and The Daily Nonpareil of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The endorsements have been a boon for Clinton, Democratic strategist Jeff Link argued, both in terms of the number of endorsements and the consistency of the arguments.

"If you said there were 39 different endorsements for 39 different reasons I would say that's a campaign in trouble because they're not getting anything across,” said Link. “I would say this is a victory in clarity of message."

Broadly speaking, the overall editorial board critique of Sanders is that he is unprepared for the White House and unrealistic about what he could achieve.

"The gap between the two candidates in support from those who have worked with them is vast, and suggests Clinton is far more likely to actually get things done," wrote the Orlando Sentinel.

"Where Sanders has called for what is surely impossible, Clinton has called for the tough but possible," said the Chicago Sun-Times.

His command of foreign policy and national security has also been singled out for criticism, especially when compared to Clinton, the former secretary of state.

“His lack of a coherent foreign policy and tendency toward isolationist positions are particularly concerning,” wrote the historically liberal editorial board of the Tampa Bay Times. “There is no indication Sanders is prepared to effectively protect the United States from terrorists or manage the complicated relationships this nation must nurture around the world.”

Some endorsement editorials have been even blunter, framing Sanders as a rigid ideologue incapable of governing.

"Sanders, cloaked in ideological purity, hasn’t occupied positions that required him to build coalitions through compromise, a strategy so vital in governing and achieving goals that our Founding Fathers created a system around it," The Las Vegas Sun said.

“Sanders is so far out of the mainstream, and so ideologically rigid, that he's unlikely to find traction for his ideas even were he to be elected -- leaving him, and the nation, adrift. Given Sanders' self-identification as a democratic socialist, he is also likely to be a far more polarizing figure in the White House,” wrote the editorial board of Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer newspaper.

The Sanders campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

For Sanders, it hasn’t been a total loss. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer newspaper, for example, noted that a significant minority of the editorial board supported Sanders, leading to the posting of an “opposing view” that lauded his honesty, consistency and transparency.

“The United States wants and needs a leader of probity with fresh ideas and approaches,” the ed board wrote.

One of the few newspaper endorsements won by Sanders also lauded the Vermont senator’s willingness to speak his mind and break with politics as usual.

"Sanders’ strength lies in his ability to generate important discussions on topics other entrenched politicians are too timid to touch," the Seattle Times' editorial reads.

How much impact the endorsements have at a time of declining newspaper circulation is subject to debate. In Michigan, where Clinton was endorsed by both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press ahead of Tuesday’s primary, they meant very little -- Sanders narrowly won the state.

"I would assume that as chief editorial writers of newspapers who are busy investigating policy questions rather than psychological questions before they make the endorsement they would come to the conclusion that Bernie is great in a revolution but it wouldn't happen if he should be elected," said Stephen Hess, a former adviser to former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter who focuses on the media at the Brookings Institution. "So I think you're talking [about] a group of practical people who see Hillary, at this stage, as the practical candidate. The one who can get things done. And that would tend to appeal to somebody who's writing an editorial for the Des Moines Register or something."

