Endorsements. No shockers, but strongly worded

New York Times (Oct. 17): We look back on the past four years with hearts nearly breaking, both for the lives unnecessarily lost and for the opportunities so casually wasted. Time and again, history invited George W. Bush to play a heroic role, and time and again he chose the wrong course. We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Oct. 10): The world that Bush describes, and the world as it exists, are often two different places. For example, if we lived in a world in which Saddam Hussein really did possess weapons of mass destruction and really did have strong ties to al-Qaida, and if the Iraqi people really would welcome American intervention, then invading Iraq would have been the wise thing to do. But that world is not this world, and pretending otherwise has proved a tragic mistake.

And more importantly, the swing-state Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 10): The choice is vivid. The stakes are vast. Our nation is threatened by jihad warriors who scoff at boundaries. It stumbles toward a fiscal ruin that will punish our children. The rules that protect our air, water and health are weaker than we know. When 45 million of our neighbors fall ill, they have no insurance card to hand to the doctor.

Ann Coulter on her book tour: "You know, I think the terrorists would prefer for the Democrats to win this one."