AS AN inanimate newspaper—and a British one to boot—The Economist cannot vote in the American elections. But if it could, it would cast its hypothetical vote for Hillary Clinton (see our cover leader)—and it would not be the only one.

American newspapers, even those with stolidly Republican-leaning editorial boards, have largely abandoned Donald Trump this election year. The Columbus Dispatch, Arizona Republic and Richmond Times-Dispatch, which had endorsed Republican candidates in the last nine presidential elections, opted for Hillary Clinton. Only one newspaper in the historical archive maintained by Noah Veltman, a data journalist—the Las Vegas Review-Journal—has endorsed the Republican nominee.

Newspaper endorsements tend to favour the party out of power, perhaps because editors are enthralled by challengers’ charisma. When Barack Obama burst onto the scene in his 2008 run, he charmed 71% of the newspapers weighing in—the most lopsided margin on record. Things didn’t work out quite so well the second time around, with Mr Obama having to make do with just 56% of endorsements in 2012.

This time, despite eight years of Democratic rule, editorial boards fearful of a Trump presidency have overwhelmingly backed Mrs Clinton. Some have opted for more exotic options. USA Today, which had not endorsed for decades, wrote an anti-endorsement casting its vote for “not Trump”. A few even threw in their lot with Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate with only a fanciful shot at the presidency.