The Milwaukee Sentinel has endorsed John Edwards for President.

Democrats in Wisconsin and elsewhere owe much to Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont and candidate for the presidential nomination of their party. Perhaps more than any other candidate in the race, the long-running Dean has set the thematic framework and identified the critical issues in the coming battle with President Bush. Those themes and issues by now are familiar to voters: the conduct of the war on terrorism, justification for the invasion of Iraq, globalization and the loss of manufacturing jobs, outsourced services, health care costs and coverage, tax cuts skewed to America's most prosperous citizens and a deficit-burdened fiscal policy.

For Democrats, then, the challenge is to nominate the man who can take his party's common vision for the nation and convince voters that it offers the right course for America. That man, in our judgment, is Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. We urge Democrats to vote for him in Tuesday's primary.

Meantime, we invite Wisconsinites to take an unblinkered look at Edwards - and not because Kerry lacks the right stuff to be president. Quite the contrary: Kerry would be a formidable nominee if Democrats choose him. But we believe Edwards would be more than Kerry's match to lead his party in November. It's true that Edwards cannot touch Kerry's distinguished military record or his long career in public life. Kerry, 60, has served in the Senate for nearly 20 years; Edwards, 50, was elected for the first time in 1998. But that also means Edwards does not carry as much baggage for his opponents to exploit.

The paper praises Kerry and Dean, but gives its reasons ("The Two Americas" message primarily) for going with Edwards. It's a good analysis and we recommend reading the entire article.