In its endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens today, the Watertown Daily Times said that over the course of yesterday Dede Scozzafava, the regular GOP nominee who bowed out yesterday, "began to quietly and thoughtfully encourage her supporters to vote for Democrat William L. Owens."

The Times itself didn't leave much room for doubt about its views. The strongest line: "It is frightening that Mr. Hoffman is so beholden to right-wing ideologues who dismiss Northern New Yorkers as parochial when people here simply want to know how Mr. Hoffman will protect their interests in Washington."

This is a reference to an incident we noted a few weeks ago when Hoffman showed up to a meeting with the paper's editorial board with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and then got defensive and abrupt when he wasn't able to answer questions about the district or the issues that faced it. Armey stepped in and chastised the editors for focusing on "parochial" issues.

Late Update: As you can see in our feature story, this afternoon Scozzafava removed all doubt and formally endorsed Owens.