There’s a third “major paper” in the Chicago area, the Daily Herald. They’re not quite as famous as the Chicago Tribune or the Sun-Times, being known more as a suburban paper with a raft of very small community papers (some of the “shopper paper and local high school sports” variety). It’s more conservative than the Trib and makes no bones about it; having dealt with them trying to get publicity inserted for my Episcopal parish, I can tell you they’re really into faith news. They probably are more interested in items of interest to Catholics and maybe conservative Protestants, though.

So when I read an item saying “both Chicago papers have endorsed Obama,” I thought I’d take a look at what the less prominent third paper had to say.

And you can knock me over with a feather. This is a ringing endorsement, eloquent and gracefully written, and it notes that they endorsed McCain in the GOP Primary and don’t oppose him, they just think Obama has more to offer in these troubled times.

The comments are predictably polarized – either ecstatic and cheering, or outraged and sneering. But as one commenter notes of McCain, “Stick a fork in him,” leaving the unspoken punchline: “He’s done.”

Daily Herald | For president: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois

This year, our foreign policy is in disarray, our country is polarized, our politics is unduly partisan and out of touch, and our economy is on the brink of the worst financial calamity since the Great Depression.

To respond to those challenges, the nation needs a confident change in direction. We believe Sen. Barack Obama is best suited by temperament, judgment and vision to bring about that change, and we strongly endorse Illinois’ favorite son for the presidency.

We don’t oppose Sen. John McCain of Arizona. We endorsed him in the Republican primary, and we believe he is a true war hero who possesses many good attributes.

But Obama has the potential to offer more. He can be, as we said in January, a transcendent figure on the landscape of history.

He has, we believe, two great talents: A talent to inspire great masses of people, to stir the imagination and provide a call to action. And a talent for partnership rather than polarization, a genuine respect for disparate views that helps him see the country more as a whole than as a collection of interest groups.