Iowa Editor Defends Paper's Clinton Endorsement

Ben Sklar/Getty Images

John McCain and Hillary Clinton sit next to each other at the opening of the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio in January.

The Des Moines Register is endorsing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential caucus and John McCain in the Republican one.

Carolyn Washburn, executive editor, moderated the final two face-offs for each party before Iowa's state caucus on Jan. 3. Washburn describes the process of grilling the candidates for the public and making a final pick for the paper.

The largely female editorial board has been accused of gender bias for picking Clinton. "It has been crazy," Washburn says. "I knew it would be, but it has exceeded my expectations."

The Register's editorial board went into its meetings with candidates guardedly. The first meeting with Clinton, a few months ago, was no different. "We all had our shields up, to be honest, in the same way that many, many Americans have their shields up about her," Washburn remembers. "We finished an hour and a half with her and came out and looked at each other and went, 'Wow.' She's just extremely impressive."

The debates Washburn moderated were at times contentious, with candidates demanding more time than the rules allowed and the editor declining to grant it. "I'm not as stylish as some of the very experienced television anchors, and I forgive myself for that," she says.

Washburn says she has heard the criticism that she didn't ask enough questions about Iraq and immigration, issues the candidates prep for intensely. She says Iowa voters who intend to caucus have told pollsters that those subjects matter a great deal, but that they don't need more information about them in order to make a decision. "More than 60 percent of the people we polled said they did need more information about the national debt and global competitiveness," she says.

On our blog, an open thread: Gender Bias? Editor Defends the Clinton Pick.