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AARON SHAROCKMANMeanwhile, the Tampa Tribune announces it has decided not to back either candidate.
Seven Florida newspapers endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president Sunday while the Tampa Tribune , which traditionally backs a Republican, chose not to recommend a candidate for the first time in 40 years.
The Tribune, which endorsed George W. Bush in 2000, wrote that its editorial board was deeply divided over the president's handling of the war in Iraq and increased federal spending.
In a page-long explanation, the board criticized Bush's deficit spending, failed campaign promises and assault on open government.
The opinion also criticized Kerry, calling his 20-year record in the Senate undistinguished.
"It is an achingly difficult decision to not endorse a candidate in the presidential contest, and we do not reach this decision lightly," the editorial board wrote.
"Like the country, this editorial board finds itself deeply divided."
The Tribune has endorsed every Republican candidate for president since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, except for 1964 when it chose not to support either incumbent Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson or Republican Barry Goldwater.
"We find it unimaginable to not be lending our voice to the chorus of conservative-leaning newspapers endorsing the president's re-election," the board wrote. "We fully expected to stand with Bush."
Meanwhile, seven other Florida newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times , backed Kerry on Sunday.
The Palm Beach Post said the Massachusetts senator has a more progressive agenda on every issue. The Bradenton Herald said it was blindsided by Bush, whom the newspaper supported in 2000, and endorsed Kerry.
The Miami Herald, Florida Today, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel all endorsed Kerry, saying the president's spending record and tax cut plan have caused record deficits.
"Kerry knows what anyone who balances a checkbook knows - Bush's huge tax cuts, the lions' share of which have gone to the wealthy, are a fiscal train wreck that must be confronted because they put the nation's economic future at risk," Florida Today wrote.
Nationally, Kerry also won endorsements Sunday from the New York Times and th e Boston Globe .
Bush picked up endorsements from the Indianapolis Star, the Arizona Republic, the Dallas Morning News and the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald.
"This election is an opportunity to demonstrate to terrorists throughout the world that America is not tired of the fight," wrote the World-Herald . "A vote for George W. Bush will keep in the White House a president who will carry on that fight and do so more forcefully and effectively than his opponent."
-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.