Clinton and McCain garner Des Moines Register endorsements; Boston Globe endorses Obama and McCain, Sen. Joe Lieberman set to endorse McCain.

After much cajoling and arm twisting by the Clinton folks, the Des Moines register bows to pressure and endorses Hillary Clinton's campaign. The paper also endorses John McCain's candidacy.

What does the Des Moines Register mean for Clinton? Hard to tell considering that Five of the six members of the Register's editorial board are women -- a fact that suggested they would be persuaded to go for Clinton. And here's what the Board had to say about Clinton and Obama:

"Readiness to lead sets her apart from a constellation of possible stars in her party, particularly Barack Obama, who also demonstrates the potential to be a fine president," the newspaper's editorial said. "He can be more inspirational than Clinton. Yet, with his relative inexperience, it's hard to feel as confident he could accomplish the daunting agenda that lies ahead."

Not a rousing endorsement, is it? In fact, one can argue the newspaper issued a joint endorsement!

The Board's endorsement of John McCain sounds more GENUINE:

"McCain is most ready to lead America in a complex and dangerous world and to rebuild trust at home and abroad by inspiring confidence in his leadership. In an era of instant celebrity, we sometimes forget the real heroes in our midst."

So do the Boston Globe (a newspaper that influences caucus goers in New Hampshire -- which caucuses next to Iowa) editorial board's endorsements of both Obama and McCain.

For Obama, the paper wrote that Obama fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world."

And for McCain, the paper wrote that he "has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States."


In another related development, Independent U. S. Senator, Joseph Lieberman, who was on the national Democratic ticket in 2000, will endorse John McCain's candidacy tomorrow.

Which begs the question, is the Maverick, tell-it-like-it-is John McCain back, because if he is, that will GREATLY warm my heart?