The Iowa City Press-Citizen endorsed Barack Obama for president Wednesday, giving Democrats a near-sweep in its endorsements.

“If there ever was a time that the election of a president could jump start America’s flat-lining moral standing in the world, it would be the election of Barack Obama on Tuesday,” writes the editorial board. “Moreover, Obama has proven to be a smart enough politician that he recognizes and will be able to make the best use of that opportunity.”

“If only candidate McCain from 2000 — the one who really did take on the leaders of his party when they were moving in the direction of the policies proposed by George W. Bush — were in charge of a party that has wreaked such havoc on Washington for eight years,” the paper says of the Republican nominee. “But by giving his vice presidential nod to Sarah Palin as a last-ditch attempt to garner hard-core conservative support, McCain has shown undeniably how he controls neither his own campaign nor his own party.”

The only Republican to win endorsement from the Iowa City paper was state Rep. Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton, whose Democratic opponent dropped out of the race but remains on the ballot.

Despite Iowa City’s liberal leanings, the local paper doesn’t always endorse a Democratic sweep. 2006 Republican endorsements included Kaufmann, Jim Leach, and state Sen. Dave Miller, who lost his seat to Becky Schmitz. And in 2004, in a slap in the face to local Democrat Art Small, the Press-Citizen endorsed neither Small nor Republican Chuck Grassley, but instead backed the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate.