Just a quick note, as we all watch the New Hampshire Republican primary results come in.

What struck me about New Hampshire's contest, being in the midst of historical research into such things, was the old-school nature of the Union Leader, a very conservative New Hampshire newspaper. It struck a lot of the media as interesting as well, but I didn't see anyone else commenting on such historical context.

The Union Leader is known for its endorsements of candidates, not so much for running an exemplary track record of picking the winners (for instance, this year they endorsed Newt Gingrich), but for their full-throated support of those whom they do decide to endorse.

Here's a short article in the Huffington Post on today's Union Leader, to show what I'm talking about. This article has a link to an image of the front page of today's Union Leader, to illustrate.

The Union Leader is known for running such front-page editorials, in support of those they endorse politically. This is greeted with bemusement by other "journalists" covering the action in New Hampshire, who don't quite know what to make of such naked displays of political boosterism in the media today.

This is, to be blunt, because they don't know beans about the history of American journalism. This used to be standard operating procedure for just about every newspaper in the country. "Endorsing" a candidate didn't just mean one single milquetoast editorial, buried in the back pages weeks before the election, it used to mean full-throated endorsement, in the literal sense of the word.

Once a newspaper had made its mind up, to put it another way, it jumped into the fray with both feet. Coming out for a particular candidate meant throwing the weight of the paper behind that candidate full-force, with daily front-page editorials about why their candidate was the best thing America had ever seen in a politician, and why any of the other clowns and pretenders running would be an absolute disaster for the future of our great country.

If you think this is exaggerated prose, it is not. It is, in fact, severely understated.

So while we all wait and see how big a margin Mitt Romney racks up in New Hampshire tonight, take a moment and check out that front-page image. This is where media editorializing was born, and I for one am glad to see one small paper in New England continuing such American journalistic traditions.

Even if I believe that Newt Gingrich would be an absolute disaster for the future of our great country, should he be elected. [Heh.]

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant