'The New Yorker' Endorses Hillary Clinton

As of Monday morning, Hillary Clinton has officially scored yet another endorsement — this time from the prestigious New Yorker magazine. The New Yorker endorsed Clinton in an editorial in the Monday edition of its print magazine, saying: "Hillary Clinton is neither saint nor prophet; she is a pragmatist of deep experience and purpose. But her toughness, her guile, and her experience — qualities that helped her patiently decimate Trump in their three debates — will be assets in future political battles." The magazine makes clear that it is not endorsing Clinton because she is not Donald Trump, unlike the numerous Republican newspapers who have largely endorsed her for that reason:

"She has been a pioneer throughout her life, and yet her career cannot be easily reduced to one transcendent myth: she has been an idealist and a liberal incrementalist, a glass-ceiling-smashing lawyer and a cautious establishmentarian, a wife and mother, a First Lady, a rough-and-tumble political operator, a senator, a Secretary of State. Her story is about walking through flames and emerging changed, warier and more determined. In her intelligence, in her gimlet-eyed recognition of both the limits and the possibilities of government, she’s a particular kind of inspirational figure, a pragmatist and a Democratic moderate. We wish that Clinton faced a worthy opponent: she deserves a less sullied, more substantive win."

In a lengthy elaboration of Clinton's strengths and accomplishments, the editors make sure to point out that "[H]er claim to our support goes far beyond the nihilism of the alternative." The full endorsement praises the Democrat's commitment to LGBTQ rights, women's rights, and racial minorities' rights, her proposals to improve the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicaid and Medicare, her plans to raise the standard of living for the middle class and people of all races, her tax plan's stricter rules for financial industry, her extensive knowledge of foreign policy, and her chance to usher in a less conservative Supreme Court — perhaps one that won't make judgments like the 2013 decision to abolish the Voting Rights Act.

The New Yorker spends a large portion of the endorsement making its case against the Republican nominee and making no attempt to be coy about how the staff sees the man — he's described as "a trash-talking, burn-it-to-the-ground demagogue" at one point — but it's clear from the passionate language the editors use to express their support for Clinton that the endorsement is not one they awarded to their view of the lesser of two evils.

Clinton has received over 260 endorsements from newspapers (including 49 of the country's 50 major papers) and magazines this election. The New Yorker's endorsement makes it possibly the proudest-sounding publication to join this group.