Salt Lake Tribune endorses Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton got a double boost Wednesday morning from an unlike source: Utah. Not only did a poll show the Democratic nominee tied with Donald Trump in the ruby-red state, but Utah's biggest newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, endorsed Clinton.

In an editorial that slammed Trump as "a total disgrace" and took Clinton to task for her email server and secrecy, the paper said the "eminently qualified" Clinton had earned their endorsement.

Clinton "has shown that she is tough, yet able and willing to reach out to politicians to her left and her right in order to get things done," the paper said. "There is certainly not a perfect choice but, at this point, the only candidate who comes close to being qualified and fit for the post is Hillary Clinton."

See more from the recent presidential debate:

Trump had a certain appeal as an outsider promising to shake up establishment Washington, the paper noted. "But, as it played out, his entire campaign was based on divisive, bigoted and insulting rhetoric. On lies about how bad things are. On a promise to fix things by basically being a dictator. It was all designed to inflame a vocal minority of us who haven't adjusted to the fact that the America where white males brought home the bacon from secure factory jobs — and didn't have to deal with a globe of different ethnic backgrounds — is gone for good."

Trump so far has racked up zero newspaper endorsements, while Clinton has earned the backing of even several conservative newspaper editorial boards. The Dallas Morning News backed Clinton despite not having endorsed a Democrat since before World War II. The Chicago Sun-Times went back on its 2012 decision to stop making endorsements at all and backed Clinton this year, saying, "The best way to avert a train wreck is to wave a warning flag as soon as possible." Foreign Policy, a respected international affairs magazine which has never endorsed a candidate, also gave its support to the former Secretary of State.

Utah is a heavily conservative state and still a long-shot for Clinton (Mitt Romney, a Mormon, won the state with 73 percent of the vote in 2012, while Sen. John McCain captured the Beehive State in 2008 with 62 percent of the vote). But a recent poll shows Trump is vulnerable there. Trump and Clinton are tied at 26 percent each, according to a Y2 Analytics poll, with Independent (and Brigham Young University graduate) Evan McMullin at 22 percent, and Libertarian Gary Johnson at 14 percent.

The thrice-married Trump is not popular with Mormons, who dislike both his playboy, casino lifestyle and his early proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the United States. Mormons themselves have experienced religious discrimination and are offended by the idea of banning any religious group, experts say.

"He makes his money off casinos and seems tawdry," explains Jeremy Pope, a political science professor at Brigham Young University. "There is a personality thing that doesn't fit with Mormon culture."

Related: See high-profile Republicans who have come out against Trump:

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