ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Constitution endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale today, calling President Reagan a 'radical Republican' whose re-election would take the nation farther down the 'road of social reaction and economic insensitivity.'
The morning newspaper, in a lengthy editorial titled, 'Mondale, and here's why,' said:
'If Ronald Reagan arguably was the right president for the United States for the last four years, he is not the right president for the next four.
Walter Mondale is.
'Where Reagan, the radical Republican, promises to carry the nation far down his road of social reaction and economic insensitivity, Mondale,the traditional Democrat, would restore the balance that is necessary to square our nation away for the future.'
The Constitution said the Reagan presidency has earned some pluses - a restraint on domestic spending, an unapologetic defense of U.S. interests abroad and a rebirth of good feeling in the country.
But, it said, Reagan has been antagonistic toward basic environmental protection, is supporting an agenda demanded by his religious-right allies, has frittered away the momentum for Mideast peace with inconsistent improvisation, undermined Third World relations and has seriously mismanaged the crucial U.S.-Soviet relationship.
'If the American presidency were largely ceremonial, Ronald Reagan would be re-elected by acclamation. But ours is a working presidency.'
'Walter Mondale offers far the more convincing promise of cohesive, rather than divisive, social leadership and strong but poised international leadereship.'
