NYT's Favorite Candidate Clinches Democratic Nomination

Sen. Barack Obama is now the Democratic presidential nominee, to the approval of no doubt much of the New York Times' news team, which has lifted the Illinois senator throughout the campaign, and nudging Sen. Hillary Clinton towards stage right, even as she continued to win primaries.

Times Watch's rough count of Times news stories since Thanksgiving 2007 shows a nearly 3-1 ratio of positive-to-negative stories for Obama, compared to a 2-3 positive-to-negative ratio for Clinton.

Positive stories for Obama (not including accounts of his primary victories, which would have an understandably pro-Obama tone) included this February 14 Valentine to his wife, "Michelle Obama Thrives in Campaign Trenches," and this April 1 headline, "Moving to Down-to-Earth Oratory for Working People." Lucky them.

Meanwhile, Clinton dealt with this front-page headline on May 5: "Seeing Grit and Ruthlessness in Clinton's Love of the Fight."

As Clinton continued to win late primaries, the Times began dropping not-so-subtle hints that her supporters were merely anti-Obama voters in disguise, motivated more by racism than any embrace of Hillary Clinton herself.

The love flows on. "After Grueling Battle, Obama Claims Nomination," Jeff Zeleny's lead story, opened:

Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday evening, prevailing through an epic battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a primary campaign that inspired millions of voters from every corner of America to demand change in Washington.

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?