Letter

Subject: American Values, American Issues: The principles at stake in the 2008 presidential campaign

Body: The Los Angeles Times got out of the presidential-endorsement game back in 1972. In 2008 we’re getting back in, providing endorsements for both the Democratic and Republican hopefuls prior to the California primary and choosing a candidate for president prior to the general election.

Newspaper endorsements may not get the attention they did 35 years ago, but this is a job we take seriously enough that we don’t intend simply to pronounce our endorsements from our second-floor perch. The candidates and platforms themselves matter less than the traditions and principles our country has built over two centuries; we want readers to understand our thinking on those principles and help us in applying those traditions to a 21st-century presidential race.

With its American Values series, the L.A. Times editorial board examines the presidential campaign through editorials drawing on the language of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, hoping to make wise, thoughtful and interesting contributions to the 2008 political year. We also look back on how our own views on specific issues have evolved since 1972 in our Cold Copy feature. And we invite input from all our readers on the articles themselves and at our Opinion L.A. blog. We hope you’ll enjoy the American Values series.

American Values and the Next President

A more perfect union
An introduction to The Times’ editorial series on American values and the election.

Life
The 2008 discussion on abortion, capital punishment and stem-cell research.

Liberty & Justice
Personal freedom, federalism and the future of the Supreme Court.

Pursuit of happiness
Taxation, economic policy and technology.

Powers of the Earth
Our exploitation of vast natural resources has helped fuel America’s remarkable growth and prosperity. But that exploitation now stands to wreak irreversable harm on our quality of life. This editorial examines key environmental issues of the day, and where the candidates stand on them.

Coming soon:

Domestic tranquility
Urban policy, poverty, insfrastructure and disaster response.

Common defense
The reconstruction of American power and prestige post-Iraq.

General welfare
Education, immigration and healthcare.

Blessings of liberty
Recapping the themes discussed in the series and their role in the election.