The New York Times Sunday endorsed President Carter for re-election, saying there is an important difference among the presidential candidates and Carter offers 'better goods.'
In an editorial headlined 'At the End of the Alley,' the Times examined the qualifications of Republican Ronald Reagan, independent John Anderson and the Democratic incumbent and said, 'Again and again, Jimmy Carter has seemed to be all sail, no boat.'
'And yet, for all the wobbling, Jimmy Carter has forthrightly, often bravely, upheld intelligent and humane values on a roster of issues,' the newspaper said.
It concluded: 'There is a difference; it is important; and we choose Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan is the better salesman; Jimmy Carter keeps dropping his sample case on his foot. But it contains better goods.'
The Chicago Tribune endorsed Reagan, as did the Detroit News, which called him 'a decent man with some different and reasonable ideas about reducing unemployment and inflation while letting the world know _ quietly _ what the nation's foreign policy is.'
Reagan also picked up support from the Indianapolis Star, the Greenville, S.C., News-Piedmont, the Asheville, N.C., Citizen-Times and two Louisiana newspapers, the Shreveport Times and the Advocate in Baton Rouge.
The Philadelphia Inquirer threw its endorsement to Carter, but said it supports the president 'with grave misgivings.'
Neither Carter nor Reagan 'is well qualified by his record in public office,' it said.
Reagan was picked by the Tulsa Daily World, which said in an editorial, 'There must be a change in leadership at the White House or America is in deep, deep trouble.'
The Minneapolis Tribune endorsed Carter's re-election, saying, 'Carter is not a failed president. In many ways he has been a good one.'
The Tampa Tribune put its support behind Reagan, criticizing Carter for ineffectiveness and praising Reagan for his record as California governor.
The Kansas City Star endorsed Carter out of a 'sorry trio of candidates.' It said its support for him came 'with some reservations but no regrets when the alternative of Ronald Reagan is considered.'
Carter also picked up endorsements from the Akron Beacon Journal, the Baltimore Sunpapers and the Maine Sunday Telegram.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press declined to endorse a presidential candidate, saying Carter has been an 'inept president,' Reagan's record has been 'selectively overblown and glorified' and Anderson is not a 'serious candidate.'
Anderson was backed by the Beaver County, Pa., Times which, in an editorial, said the independent candidate has the 'most promise for leading this nation.' He also picked up the endorsement of his hometown paper, the Rockford, Ill., Register Star.
Libertarian candidate Ed Clark also picked up an endorsement Sunday _ from the Peoria Journal Star, Illinois' largest newspaper outside the Chicago area. The paper called Clark the only candidate who would attempt to cut the federal bureaucracy.
Anderson also was endorsed by Vermont's largest newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, which said he is 'highly qualified by intellect and experience for the presidency. The Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel picked Reagan.
The Seattle newspapers split their endorsementsSunday. The Seattle Times endorsed Reagan, saying voters 'took a chance and lost' four years ago with Carter. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, supported Anderson.
Others endorsing Reagan Sunday were the Topeka Capital-Journal, which called Carter's administration 'a second rate government'; the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, which said both candidates have 'feet of clay'; and the Charlottesville, Va., Daily Progress, which said Carter has put the nation, especially on foreign policy, 'on a disaster course.'
The Philadelphia Bulletin endorsed Republican Arlen Specter as its choice for the U.S. Senate.
The Inquirer called the choice a decision among 'the lesser Presidential evil' and said neither Carter nor Republican Ronald Reagan 'is well qualified by his record in public office.'
The choice of Reagan was described by the Inquirer as 'so fraught with danger, so pregnant with potentials of bitterness, division and violence, as to be unacceptable.'
THe Bulletin called Specter, a former Philadelphia District Attorney, 'bright, well-organized, hard working and ambitious.'
Specter 'seems to have a stronger grasp of issues, knowledge of Pennsylvania and imagination in representing the state in Washington,' than opponent Peter Flaherty, a former mayor of Pittsburgh, the Bulletin said.
