The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has endorsed Sen. John McCain for president.

From its endorsement editorial:

We first endorsed Mr. McCain for president in February, long before we knew Sen. Obama would be the Democrat nominee. But our words then are even more apropos now.

John McCain is fiercely independent. And he makes no apologies for the principles he holds dear, even if they be at odds with the traditional party base. But he has never wavered in his core belief of what Republicanism (with a capital "R") and republicanism (with a lower-case "r") are all about:

Small government. Fiscal discipline. Low taxes. A strong defense. And a judiciary that does not legislate from the bench.

Compared with Barack Obama's long and dangerous statist laundry list of the ever more expansive role government should play in our lives, John McCain sums it up quite succinctly, quite effectively and quite nicely, thank you.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.