New York Times endorses John Kerry

WASHINGTON - The New York Times, one of America's most influential newspapers, on Sunday endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry as a potentially "great chief executive".

With just 16 days before the November 2 election, Kerry gained the backing of 27 papers on Sunday and United States President George W Bush won nine, according to Editor and Publisher, which tracks the newspaper industry. Kerry leads Bush in newspaper endorsements 42 to 22, the journal said on its website.

Bush won endorsements from the Chicago Tribune, Denver's Rocky Mountain News, the Arizona Republic and the Dallas Morning News in his home state of Texas.

"We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better," the New York Times said its an editorial.

The Times characterised Bush's presidency as "disastrous" and accused him of "turning the government over to the radical right".

"We are impressed with Mr Kerry's wide knowledge and clear thinking," the Times said. "He is blessedly willing to re-evaluate decisions when conditions change."

Kerry "has qualities that could be the basis for a great chief executive, not just a modest improvement on the incumbent," the newspaper said. "He strikes us, above all, as a man with a strong moral core."

The Chicago Tribune, a regionally influential paper close to several Midwestern battleground states, cast Bush better able to ensure US security.

"Bush's sense of a president's duty to defend America is wider in scope than Kerry's, more ambitious in its tactics, more prone, frankly, to yield both casualties and lasting results. This is the stark difference on which American voters should choose a president," the Chicago Tribune said.

In key swing states, Kerry won endorsements from the Dayton Daily News and the Akron Beacon-Journal in Ohio, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in Minnesota and four Florida papers including the Miami Herald. The Boston Globe in his home state of Massachusetts also backed Kerry.

In Ohio, two smaller papers -- The Repository in Canton and The Times-Republic in New Philadelphia -- backed Bush.

In North Carolina, home of Kerry's running mate John Edwards, the Winston-Salem Journal made no endorsement. The paper said had endorsed a Republican in every presidential election since 1968, but it said Bush's administration was "a presidency in deep trouble" and called Kerry "largely unknown and untried".

- REUTERS