Watch this space in ’08

As the above editorial indicates, the Los Angeles Times editorial board endorses propositions placed on the ballot and candidates for public office. Not since Richard M. Nixon, however, have we endorsed a candidate for president. That practice is going to change.

In 1973, this newspaper announced that it would no longer routinely endorse candidates for president, governor or senator. That policy has since eroded, as we have endorsed in gubernatorial and senatorial races. And in 2008, we once again will be endorsing in the presidential election.

Endorsements in local races, in which the candidates may be less known and about whom there are fewer sources of information, are undoubtedly of greater value to our readers. But there is no sound reason to ignore the highest public office in the nation when making endorsements.

Such endorsement decisions are made by the editorial board, whose members -- like all editors of our opinion pages -- are not part of The Times newsroom, nor do they work in tandem with the news-gathering staff. The election endorsements on this page, like the unsigned editorials taking positions on other public-policy debates, do not affect the newspaper’s news coverage in any way.