US daily has a scoop: "Obama Wins!"

WASHINGTON: The US presidential election may be a week away, but the New Mexico Sun News has already declared Democratic nominee Barack Obama the winner!

"Obama Wins!" is the headline of the edition on newsstands now, complete with "special collector's edition" in red bold typeface, CNN reported calling it "either a major scoop or 'Dewey Beats Truman' déjà vu 60 years later."

'Dewey Defeats Truman' was a famously incorrect banner headline on the front page of the first edition of the Chicago Tribune Nov 3, 1948.

But President Harry S. Truman, who had been expected to lose to Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential race, won the election.

The Sun News is a bi-monthly newspaper and its Oct 26-Nov 8 issue had to hit the streets, and the newsstands, before the election. So the editors decided to make a leap of faith and declare Obama the winner.

In an article explaining their choice, the editors unabashedly wrote, "When it comes to calling the winner of a presidential election, everyone wants to be first. The New Mexico Sun News hereby claims that achievement."

The liberal leaning alternative newspaper also implored its readers to get out and vote, "even if we did spoil the ending for you."