POLITICAL BRIEFING

SURPRISE, SURPRISE--No newspaper in the country has hammered Clinton more relentlessly than the New York Post, several of whose reporters openly boast of their dislike for him. So Post readers may have been surprised to read the paper’s endorsement editorial last week, which called Clinton the “clear choice” over former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. in Tuesday’s primary. . . . A change of heart? No. While most newspapers try to keep their editorials and news coverage separate, the gulf at the Post between the two staffs is especially huge. . . . Clinton also picked up the backing of the New York Times and the Daily News. The city’s fourth major daily, Newsday, opted for the unusual course of endorsing a candidate who has suspended his campaign: ex-Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas.