Our leaders owed us better than lower standards of living, and we must have better if the U.S. is to remain a beacon of prosperity where mothers and fathers can be confident of providing for their children and seeing them climb higher on the ladder._____
Revival of the U.S. as a land of opportunity and upward mobility is the central challenge facing the next President. The question for Americans: Who is more likely to accomplish the mission — Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Four years ago, the Daily News endorsed Obama, seeing a historic figure whose intelligence, political skills and empathy with common folk positioned him to build on the small practical experience he would bring to the world’s toughest job. We valued Obama’s pledge to govern with bold pragmatism and bipartisanship.
The hopes of those days went unfulfilled.
Newsday:
Had Barack Obama done the job of president with the same passion and vision he displayed in seeking it, he would likely deserve another term. He did not._____
Against this we must weigh Mitt Romney, an imperfect candidate but one who has a special track record too. From his creation of a vast personal fortune to his successful stewardship of the threatened Salt Lake City Olympics to his governing of Massachusetts, Romney's life is a tale of success after success, many of them achieved in difficult circumstances.
Romney's potential to put America back to work earns him our endorsement.
Wisconsin State Journal:
Not enough hope and too little change._____
That is President Barack Obama's record on the economy, debt and Washington gridlock after four years in the White House.
The State Journal editorial board endorses Mitt Romney in Tuesday's presidential election.
Romney showed as the Republican governor of Democratic-leaning Massachusetts that he can find agreement across the partisan divide. And his vice presidential pick — Wisconsin's U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville — suggests Romney is serious about tackling America's fiscal mess.
Times of Northwest Indiana:
With all the red tape and red ink in Washington, D.C., the nation needs a fiscal conservative in the Oval Office. Between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, it's obvious which candidate best fits that description._____
Campaigning polarizes candidates as they strive to distinguish themselves from each other. Hopefully, the next president will move toward the middle of the road after the election.
So now we must look at the bedrock of where they came from and what they have accomplished.
Romney has the executive experience needed for this job. Not only did he serve as governor – a good training ground for presidential candidates – but he also has extensive and successful private sector experience in making money, not just spending it.
The Fargo Forum is behind a paywall.
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Salem Statesman Journal:
We do so despite endorsing Barack Obama four years ago. On Oct. 19, 2008, we wrote: “America needs a profound leader — a leader who can rebuild our economy, regain our respect around the world and restore our faith in our future. That person is Barack Obama.”_____
Today our economy is still struggling and our national hopes have faded.
We know this is not all President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s fault. Although Obama underestimated the nation’s economic challenges, he inherited that mess. The Obama-congressional stimulus efforts likely prevented the recession from getting even worse; and, over time, Obama has stemmed the job losses.
It’s impossible to know whether anyone could have done better, but Republican Mitt Romney now deserves the opportunity to try.
Waco Tribune-Herald:
This paper didn’t endorse Barack Obama for president four years ago, but upon his landslide victory we expressed hope he would deliver on his message of true bipartisanship in governance in addressing the economic calamity that erupted during President George W. Bush’s second term. That’s something every American should have wished, regardless of whether his or her team won in the 2008 election._____
Unfortunately, the president failed to rally both sides to the table. He ceded the reins of power to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who weren’t interested in collaborating with Republicans in lifting this country out of recession and battling a growing national debt fueled by foolish tax cuts and two wars in the previous administration. When Republicans in the minority pressed Obama for the inclusion he promised, he ignored their appeals.
While we condemn the hateful venom leveled at the president since those days, Obama is partially to blame for the mounting polarization in this land. Considering that major decisions must be made — decisions long overdue — this newspaper believes Republican challenger Mitt Romney would best serve this nation as its president, employing his considerable business expertise in getting government books in order; restructuring a corrupt tax code to ensure equity in taxation and, yes, more business competitiveness at home and abroad; and forging the very bipartisanship the current campaigner in chief once vowed.
The Laredo Morning Times is behind a paywall.
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The National Interest:
In 2008, The National Interest offered a split endorsement of that year’s presidential candidates. The magazine’s late president, Robert Ellsworth, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama, while its publisher, Dimitri Simes, endorsed Republican John McCain._____
In 2012, however, we are united in endorsing Governor Mitt Romney. That does not mean that we agree with all of his positions, and we are aware of his fluid positions on a number of important issues. But no candidate is perfect. And, given how the American political process works today, a perfect candidate probably couldn’t win and likely wouldn’t run. Besides, adjusting one’s positions from primaries to general elections is hardly unusual in American politics.
Presidential elections are, first and foremost, referendums on the incumbent, unless the challenger is somehow fundamentally flawed. Notwithstanding President Obama’s campaign efforts to demonize Governor Romney, the governor is not in that category. Moreover, Mr. Obama’s own record in the office argues against granting him four more years during very challenging times both at home and abroad.
South Washington County Bulletin:
The presidency is the ultimate job test. Do a good job in the first term and Americans usually will reward a president by re-electing him to a second. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has made a convincing case that President Barack Obama has not earned a second term. More importantly, Romney has emerged as a competent, qualified challenger who clearly is up to the job of returning the nation to pre-recession prosperity, job creation and restored status on the world stage._____
Obama inherited an economic mess not of his making. The collapse that was under way when he took office nearly four years ago had its genesis during the administration of President George W. Bush. But that was more than four years ago. Since then, the president has presided over a recovery from recession that is the slowest in modern times. He can try to blame the situation on his predecessor, but that argument no longer has credibility.
Romney has resumés from the private sector and from government that underscore his success and confirm his ability. Unlike the lunatics on the tea-party right, Romney grasps the value of a proper balance between government and the private sector. He’s lived it all his life. His accomplishments in state government, as an Olympics executive and in business reveal a world view that is based in experience, compromise, risk-taking and extraordinary successes.
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