The Washington Post endorsed President Carter in its Friday editions, while Ronald Reagan has picked up backing from the New York Daily News and the Dallas Times Herald and the Boston Globe endorsed both Carter and John Anderson.
The Post said in its editorial that Reagan's 'achievement over the last year as been notable,' and said it 'flatly rejects the Carter administration's charge that the man and his entourage represent positions too bizarre and extreme even to be taken seriously compared to its own positions...'
But it said the administration 'can rightly boast some large-scale achievements _ in energy policy, for example, and in the enactment of some important, far-reaching reforms.'
The Post said 'it seems to us that people like ourselves know enough now to know that the Democratic administration more nearly than the challenger embodies our ideas of what needs to be done. That is our decision. We may not be enthusiastic about it. But we are emphatic.
The other endorsements were made Thursday.
The Denver Post said it was not endorsing any candidate for the first time in its 85-year history because 'formal endorsement would simply lend our imprimatur to a political system which has failed the American people by not offering a choice between qualified candidates.'
The Globe said a ballot for either Carter or Anderson would be 'a positive vote for the future ... The significant point to us is that Carter and Anderson both are progressives on most of the important issues of the day.'
The newspaper predicted Reagan 'would turn the country's domestic and foreign policies in unfortunate, even dangerous, directions.'
On the other side, the New York Daily News said, 'For us, as for millions of voters, it is a close call and a difficult one. But with many misgivings, and more hope than certitude, we recommend the election of Ronald Reagan.'
The Dallas Times Herald said Reagan, as governor of California showed 'an ability to recruit outstanding aides and a willingness to listen to their advice ... Governor Reagan calls for a vigorous, can-do attitude while President Carter is trapped in negativism, fear and confusion.'
In Oklahoma City, the Daily Oklahoman endorsed Reagan. The newspaper, Oklahoma's largest, said, 'Before Carter drags us into a war we are unprepared for or continues his policy of peace with dishonor, let's retire him to Georgia by voting against the inept incumbent next Tuesday.'
On Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times announced its endorsement of Carter.
Carter also won endorsements from the Berkshire Eagle, in Pittsfield, Mass., and the Chronicle, a black weekly in Charleston, S.C.
In Denver, the Anderson campaign said La Voz, Colorado's largest bilingual newspaper, would endorse the independent for president.
In Flint, Mich, the Flint Journal endorsed Reagan but in a column on the same page, editor Ray Stephens backed Carter. The newspaper said three members of the editorial board chose Reagan but Stephens dissented.
The Newport Daily News in Rhode Island endorsed Anderson, saying he is 'an articulate centrist whose position is within the mainstream of American political life. We believe Anderson is the best choice for president this year.'
