John Brummett delves into the interesting news mentioned several times by readers that the Benton County Daily Record — a wraparound local newspaper for the Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest Arkansas edition — had endorsed Barack Obama. For good measure, it endorsed Bill Williams, a Democrat for county judge.

This paper once carried the proud word Democrat in its nameplate. That was long ago. Benton County is the state’s most reliable Republican stronghold. The owner of the newspaper, Walter Hussman essentially, is no Democrat.

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But you have to credit Hussman for allowing this newspaper its independence. Warren Stephens, owner of the Stephens newspapers in Arkansas, would allow no such apostasy. (Nor is he required to, by the way.) The newspapers of Stephens, the McCain Arkansas campaign finance leader, have been duly endorsing trickle-down economics, including running Stephens’ plea for kinder tax treatment of billionaires.

I should add that the Northwest Arkansas Times, another Hussman supplement to the NW D-G, has endorsed Earl Hunton, a Democrat, for state House, over Republican Rep. Mark Martin. Here, you need not look to partisan labels for a reason to endorse, merely sanity. But it’s worthy of note. The LR version of the D-G has been going down the line for Republicans in legislative races.

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