The New Republic is endorsing John Kerry for President (requires login: bugmenot2004/19530321)

This magazine is generally on the conservative side, so it's sort of interesting that they will support the Democratic candidate. However, the real reason why I'm posting it is because in their endorsement of John Kerry they also tell you about his flaws. It's not something you often get to see because the spin doctors only give sterling endorsements.

They talk about Bush's flaws, Kerry's flaws and how even though they both have problems, Kerry is the better choice.

I particularly like the two opening paragraphs:

There was a time, in the aftermath of September 11, when this magazine liked what it heard from George W. Bush. He said America was at war--not merely with an organization, but with a totalitarian ideology. And he pledged to defeat Islamist totalitarianism the same way we defeated European totalitarianism, by spreading democracy. For a publication that has long believed in the marriage of liberalism and American power, this was the right analysis. And its correctness mattered more than the limitations of the man from which it came.

Three years later, it has become tragically clear that the two cannot be separated. The president's war on terrorism, which initially offered a striking contrast to his special interest-driven domestic agenda, has come to resemble it. The common thread is ideological certainty untroubled by empirical evidence, intellectual curiosity, or open debate. The ideology that guides this president's war on terrorism is more appealing than the corporate cronyism that guides his domestic policy. But it has been pursued with the same sectarian, thuggish, and ultimately self-defeating spirit. You cannot lead the world without listening to it. You cannot make the Middle East more democratic while making it more anti-American. You cannot make the United States more secure while using security as a partisan weapon. And you cannot demand accountable government abroad while undermining it at home.