Election Day is still more than 55 days away, but the The New York Post has made up its mind on which candidate should be elected the next president of the United States.

It's John McCain, according to the Post editorial board.

The Post is the first major U.S. newspaper to pick sides in the upcoming election, months before most newspapers typically publish endorsement editorials. In 2004, the left-leaning Philadelphia Inquirer published 17 consecutive endorsement editorials for John Kerry, but most newspapers usually wait until a few days before the election to endorse.

Here's why the Post believes McCain should be elected president:

McCain's lifelong record of service to America, his battle-tested courage, unshakeable devotion to principle and clear grasp of the dangers and opportunities now facing the nation stand in dramatic contrast to the tissue-paper-thin résumé of his Democratic opponent, freshman Sen. Barack Obama.

From the Post editorial:

McCain has been in Washington for many years now, but he is not of Washington. He knows where the levers of power are located - and how to manipulate them - but he is not controlled by them.

McCain's selection of the charming, but rock-solid, outsider Sarah Palin as his running mate underscores the point.

Neither plays well with others.

And this is an unalloyed asset at a time when special interests - lobbyists, lawyers and organized labor chief among them - wield enormous influence in the nation's capital.

McCain's Democratic opponents, Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden, lead a party constructed of special interests - public-employee unionists in particular.

The newspaper goes on to make the case that McCain is better than Obama on national security, taxes, trade and energy.

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