Two Massachusetts newspapers, the Lowell Sun and the Sentinel & Enterprise, endorsed Andrew Yang (D) for president, making the announcement in a joint statement on Monday.
The two papers issued a joint endorsement for Yang over Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who hails from their own state, citing Yang’s refusal to participate in “cancel culture” and ripping the Democrat frontrunners for embracing an “ugly, nasty tone” throughout their campaigns.
“Almost every candidate in the Democratic field has in one way or another contributed to this societal condition, either as a matter of principle or in an effort to pander to the most radical elements of the party,” the outlets wrote, deeming Yang as the “exception.”
They wrote:
Yang does not speak negatively about Americans, regardless of their beliefs and politics.
He believes that Trump supporters are people worth listening to, people with real concerns who have been ignored and derided by the political establishment, and he is proposing new and innovative policy solutions to their problems. And he wants to win them over.
He talks to everybody.
Yang has had long-form conversations with conservatives like Ben Shapiro, classical liberals like Dave Rubin and even gun-toting, weed-smoking liberals like Joe Rogan. In 2019 he sat in with folks from the Boston Herald and earlier this month joined editors from the Lowell Sun and Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
The outlets admitted that significant policy disagreements exist between them, including Yang’s hallmark Universal Basic Income proposal, calling it impractical “in its current design.” However, the outlets praised Yang for championing the bold idea and stressed that the endorsement is less about his policy proposals and more about the way he conducts himself, citing his willingness to talk to people on the other side of the political aisle. The papers also heaped praise on Yang’s campaign for refusing to “embrace the ugly, nasty tone the Democratic front-runners have set.”
Yang told the outlets:
To me it’s obvious that you’re going to have a hard time persuading anyone to your point of view if you’re not willing to talk to them and that it’s going to be very hard to bring our country together to solve problems that affect us all if you decide that 40% of Americans are somehow not worth talking to or not worth your time.
“You go to people where they are. You talk to them like Americans and human beings,” he added.
“Even while the Democratic political establishment locks him out of the debates to protect their favorite candidates, he stays positive,” the Sun continued.
More per the Sun:
He is committed to the idea that politics should work in the service of people, or “Humanity First” as his campaign slogan puts it. He believes that the government needs to address the hollowing out of industrial jobs for the working and middle classes that has been accelerating in recent years and has hit some communities especially hard.
More importantly, at least in 2020, Yang brings a youthful energy and fresh approach to the race. He represents the best in America: thoughtfulness and optimism.
Ultimately, the newspapers believe that Yang, who is not a politician, “disrupts the political status quo,” but they state that “his form of disruption is that of a nimble tech startup and not a wrecking ball” — a veiled jab at President Trump, who was also considered a political outsider in 2016.
“Yang is uniquely positioned to be a uniting force in our culture,” the Lowell Sun and Sentinel & Enterprise contended. “The man of conversations has shown a respect for all Americans and has earned the privilege of conducting a conversation on a bigger stage.”
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