Let the endorsing begin!

Well, it's started. The Des Moines Register and the Boston Globe have made their endorsements for the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries, respectively.

The Register endorsed Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side and John McCain on the Republican side. The Globe endorsed McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

I hate when newspapers do this, for a few reasons.

First and foremost, the papers are coming right out and saying, "No, we're not going to be neutral in this race."

Second, not all people do their research. Since they know their local newspaper will endorse a candidate, they just vote for whomever the paper tells them to. I don't feel so much like the papers are cheating those people out of learning about candidates, as much as I feel like the papers are cheating the people who do their research.

Lastly, you give fuel to candidates you didn't endorse. If Mike Huckabee wins the Iowa Republican caucus and goes on to win the Republican nomination (God help us), when the Register comes along looking to do an in-depth profile on Huckabee and sell him some ads, the candidate can just look at them and say, "You endorsed McCain. Go screw." And then the paper's not able to properly serve its readership.

I know endorsing candidates is a time-honored tradition, but it's one that needs to stop.