Houston Chronicle: Obama

Barry O pulled Texas’ largest and perhaps most influential paper today, the Chron:

Of the two finalists for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Chronicle believes Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party. In a conference call, Obama told the Chronicle editorial board that “more than any other candidate, I can bridge some of the partisan as well as racial and religious divides that have developed in this country that prevent us from getting things done.”

Those who have viewed the numerous campaign debates know there’s not much to separate Obama from his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. [...] However, there is a decisive difference. Obama vows to reach out to independents and Republicans with a message of inclusion and cooperation. He offers a historic opportunity to elevate national political dialogue to a higher ground. Those who insist on vitriol and obstructionism would be marginalized.

The Chron does stress Obama should elaborate on earlier comments regarding manned space exploration — he has suggested it is not cost-effective — and should not write-off lack of support from private energy firms as a inevitable because any solutions will require cooperation with market leaders.

As an exercise in compare-contrast, peek at their accompanying endorsement of McCain for the Republican party; it has all the enthusiasm of a press release announcing layoffs.