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WASHINGTON - The New York Times, one of the oldest and most respected US newspapers, said on Sunday that for the first time in memory it was endorsing no Republican US congressional candidates this year.
In an editorial, the Times criticized the Republican-led Congress on matters from tax cuts to energy policy, and charged it has failed to hold US President George W. Bush accountable for the unpopular Iraq War.
"This election is indeed about George W. Bush - and the congressional majority's insistence on protecting him from the consequences of his mistakes and misdeeds," the Times editorialised.
The Bush administration has had a number of clashes in recent years with the Times, particularly for the newspaper's disclosure of its warrantless domestic spying programme.
The newspaper, founded in 1851, wrote in its editorial: "On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican congressional candidates for the first time in our memory."
"To begin with, the Republican majority that has run the House of Representatives - and for the most part, the Senate - during President Bush's tenure, has done a terrible job on the basics," the newspaper wrote.
"It's tax-cutting-above-all-else has wrecked the budget, hobbled the middle class and endangered the long-term economy. It has refused to face global warming and done pathetically little about the country's dependence on foreign oil," the Times added.
- REUTERS
