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Conservative US Paper Won’t Back Republican for First Time in More Than Century

© AP Photo / Rick BowmerLibertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson
Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson - Sputnik International
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For the first time in more than 100 years, the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper is opting against endorsing the Republican candidate and has instead chosen to back Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump (C) walks with vice presidential candidate Mike Pence (L) and family members after arriving for an event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., July 20, 2016 - Sputnik International
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A front-page endorsement in Thursday’s paper coincides with Donald Trump returning his campaign to the state for a rally in Laconia. The event marks his fourth visit to New Hampshire, after easily winning the presidential primary on February 9, in spite of an aggressive campaign against him by the Union Leader.

In a Thursday editorial, Joseph W. McQuaid, the Union Leader publisher, accused Trump of denigrating anyone who disagrees with him, ironically while denigrating and name-calling the candidate that he disagrees with.

“The man is a liar, a bully, a buffoon,” the editorial read. “He denigrates any individual or group that displeases him. He has dishonored military veterans and their families, made fun of the physically frail, and changed political views almost as often as he has changed wives.”

Along with endorsing Johnson, the paper backed the entire Libertarian ticket, instead of choosing between “the lesser of two evils.”

A voter marks a ballot for the New Hampshire primary inside a voting booth. - Sputnik International
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“They would be worth considering under many circumstances,” McQuaid wrote of the Libertarian Party. “In today’s dark times, they are a bright light of hope and reason.”

A poll earlier this month found that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads Trump by only 2 points in the state, with Johnson polling at 15 percent.

“Newspaper endorsements have considerably less currency now than in an earlier political era, of course. The Union Leader’s backing of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey in the state’s primary did little for his campaign, and their regular broadsides against Trump did not stop him from rolling to a 19-point victory there,” the Boston Globe noted.

Still, McQuaid seems hopeful that his endorsement will help stop a Trump victory, and likely hand the state to Clinton.

“Voters leaning toward Trump are understandably fed up with the status quo, of which Clinton is a prime example,” he wrote. “But they kid themselves if they think Trump isn’t pretty much a part of that status quo as well, or that he is in any way qualified to competently lead this nation.”

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