Miami Herald endorses Clinton

The Miami Herald on Friday endorsed Hillary Clinton, boosting her in a key battleground state crucial to the presidential election.

{mosads}“The narrative that Hillary Clinton is the lesser of two evils is patently wrong,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “Ms. Clinton is a pragmatic, tough-minded woman of accomplishment and political conviction with a demonstrated mastery of policy.

“She is politically flawed. However, Donald Trump is a damaged human being. The sum of all her flaws amounts to little compared to Donald Trump’s total lack of fitness for the presidency.”

The newspaper said Trump hoodwinked voters by exploiting their frustrations with government.

“The billionaire Republican candidate is a boastful, self-centered egomaniac who lacks a record of public service or familiarity with the issues,” the editorial said. “Indeed, he clearly seems to lack any political convictions whatsoever, except those of convenience.”

“The priority of every voter who cares about standards of honesty and decency, not to mention the future and direction of this country, is to reject what Donald Trump represents.”

The Herald expressed some reservations about Clinton, particularly over her private email server and other transparency issues.

“She has been slow to admit error, as in the email controversy,” the editorial board said. “In that case and others, she has shown a penchant for secrecy and an unfortunate tendency to dismiss legitimate criticism as uninformed or ill-intentioned.

“Yet most of her adult life has been lived in the glare of the public spotlight. She may be the most scrutinized individual in public life. Throughout her trials and triumphs, she has shown an admirable level of resilience and self-confidence.”

Clinton has received the overwhelming majority of endorsements from the nation’s top 100 newspapers, with none endorsing Trump so far.

She has surged to a 3-point lead in Florida, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. Trump led in the state as recently as late September.