2012 Presidential Campaign Blog

Florida Times-Union Endorses Mitt Romney For President

FLORIDA TIMES-UNION: “ROMNEY’S TURNAROUND SKILLS ARE RIGHT FOR AMERICA”

Romney's Turnaround Skills Are Right For America
Florida Times-Union
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://jacksonville.com

What this nation needs is a turnaround expert.

We need someone who knows how to deal with a balance sheet drowning in red ink.

We need someone who has that American strain of pragmatism in an era of toxic partisan politics.

We need someone who has made his fortune, who doesn’t need this job but is seeking simply to serve the public.

That man is Mitt Romney. Following in the footsteps of his father who was successful in the private sector, Romney has dedicated his later years to public service.
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Romney, in contrast, led one of the most liberal states in the union and managed to get along as well as could be expected. His health care plan was right for Massachusetts, but Romney showed his impeccable common sense by acknowledging the Massachusetts plan isn’t right for every one of the 50 states.
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This is the family history that informs Romney’s values. They are the classic American values of hard work, discipline and sacrifice. This is the vision he has for America.

It’s a vision based on the power of hard work and initiative.

It’s a vision that was expressed in his acceptance speech after winning the New Hampshire primary.

“I want you to remember when you spent more time dreaming about where to send your kids to college than wondering how to make it to the next paycheck.

“I want you to remember when you weren’t afraid to look at your retirement savings or the price at the pump.”

Romney understands that a revived business sector is the key to turning around the American economy.

As he said in an interview in Time, he wants people to say, “America looks like a good place to invest again, a good place to take risk, a good place to hire again,” a place with good jobs for the middle class.

Romney is the best person to lead America at this crucial time.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Green Bay Press-Gazette Endorses Mitt Romney For President

GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE: “WE RECOMMEND ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT”

We Recommend Romney For President
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com

Four years ago, when Barack Obama was elected president, he campaigned on a message of hope and change.

Many hoped he could bring change for a nation weary of two wars, a nation beset by a mortgage crisis and Wall Street scandal, and, most importantly, a nation whose economic future was so uncertain that massive government bailouts were needed.

However, four years later, the economy hasn’t rebounded. In fact, some say it’s worse, with high unemployment numbers, a trillion-dollar deficit, an even bigger national debt and uncertainty in the business world over the future of our economy. Poverty has increased, the median household income has dropped, and some have given up looking for work.

This nation cannot wait four more years to see if Obama’s policies will work. It needs to turn to someone who has a proven track record in the business community and will offer the steady hand to a teetering economy.

For that reason, the Green Bay Press-Gazette is endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who we believe is the best choice to turn around the U.S. economy. We believe the Republican candidate’s experience as CEO of Bain Capital, governor of Massachusetts and work with the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City will be assets to turning around the economy..
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Romney’s five-point jobs proposal looks to strengthen the middle class by creating 12 million jobs in his first term. Romney aims to reach this ambitious goal by achieving energy independence by 2020, expanding trade, improving education, cutting the deficit and helping small businesses.
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Romney proposes 20 percent cuts in the marginal tax rate for individuals, which would reduce the top bracket from 35 to 28 percent, and cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 28 percent. He would get rid of the death tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax. He would eliminate taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for those earning less than $200,000.
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Romney would cut the deficit with smaller government and addressing the national debt. The deficit was at $1.09 trillion as of Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which is a slight drop from the $1.3 trillion deficit Obama faced when he took office. He had pledged in February 2009 to “cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.”
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Despite all this, we can’t we can’t ignore the state of the economy today. It is the overriding factor in people’s lives. How they pay for health care, how they pay for their mortgage, how they pay the bills, how they pay for retirement are all chief concerns that need to be answered. They are concerns that cut across are classes and are paramount in deciding who should be in the White House.

How long can Obama blame his predecessor for the current financial woes without taking any responsibility for some of the economic duress and gridlock? At some point, the problems a president inherits become his problems if he hasn’t been able to solve them.

At that point, then, we need someone else in the White House who can solve them. We believe that person is Mitt Romney.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Florida Today Endorses Mitt Romney For President

FLORIDA TODAY: “WE RECOMMEND MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT”

We Recommend Mitt Romney For President

Florida Today
Editorial
October 28, 2012

http://www.floridatoday.com

Over the next four years, Washington must foster a more competitive economy and balance federal budgets. Florida voters rate jobs and business growth as their No. 1 concern by far.

For those reasons, we endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

Romney has a clearer vision for a modern economy. He has a better understanding than President Barack Obama of what could help manufacturers and service companies grow and hire. And he has executive experience and a record of problem solving that Obama did not have before taking office.

We think Romney would be more effective at setting priorities, pushing business-friendly initiatives through his Cabinet and negotiating solutions across party lines.
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In a line that bodes well for the Space Coast, he writes: “Government is generally not the source of new ideas, although innovations from NASA and the military have provided frequent exceptions.”
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We endorsed Obama in 2008, but not because he seemed likely to transform the economy. We recommended Obama because he promised to end the war in Iraq, continue NASA’s moon-exploration program and reform health care costs that had outstripped growth in household income for more than a decade.

We also believed Obama would reach out and build new coalitions in Washington to resolve issues mired in partisanship.

Four years later, Obama has failed to satisfy three out of four of those expectations.
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Combine those positions with Romney’s business expertise, and that’s the candidate we support.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Naples Daily News Endorses Mitt Romney For President

NAPLES DAILY NEWS: “PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”

President Of The United States
Naples Daily News
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://goo.gl/ROLY5

After two years of speeches, forums, debates, press releases, testimonials and attack ads, the presidential election yields something clear and concise.

This really is all about the economy.

Given Democratic President Barack Obama's attempts over the past four years to improve it, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney's credentials as an astute businessman who understands how money works, our endorsement goes to Romney.

This time four years ago, this newspaper's editorial board sized up the state of the economy and other issues and concluded the country needed a change, to Obama.

While we believe the national economy is on the way back, we believe it will take another administration change, to Romney, to bring the leadership that will make that recovery timely, robust and sustainable.
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We believe Romney knows what it means for government to make it easier for business to do business, and that is where the comeback ought to start.

We believe a Romney administration will move instinctively toward spending and taxation policies that will free up money for investment and economic diversification — and jobs.
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We have more confidence in Romney being able to build upon the economy as far as the Obama administration has been able to resuscitate it.
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We believe Mitt Romney is the candidate for president of the United States to do what we have to do.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

The News and Advance (Lynchburg, VA) Endorses Mitt Romney For President

THE NEWS AND ADVANCE (LYNCHBURG, VA):  “AMERICA NEEDS MITT ROMNEY IN THE OVAL OFFICE”

America Needs Mitt Romney in Oval Office
The News and Advance (Lynchburg, VA)
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://goo.gl/fCxu8

Four years ago. The autumn of 2008. The U.S. and global financial systems were in full meltdown mode. Banks were imploding because of home mortgages gone bad. The toxicity of those assets was spreading like a cancer throughout the entire economy.
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Fast forward to today. The autumn of 2012. The U.S. and global economy are still in recovery mode, a tentative recovery at best.
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And in the middle of it is another presidential election, pitting Republican Mitt Romney against President Obama, who’s seeking a second term.

We don’t know how this contest will turn out, but The News & Advance endorses Mitt Romney for president.
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President Obama’s greatest weakness, though, is Mitt Romney’s greatest strength, and it’s a strength we need in the White House, now more than at any time in the last 80 years: a deep knowledge  and understanding of what makes the American economy run.
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Romney took this business experience to the Salt Lake City Olympics more than a decade ago, saving the entire endeavor from collapse following mismanagement, poor planning and a bribery scandal.

He then turned his energies to his adopted state of Massachusetts, serving as governor from 2002 to 2006. Among his accomplishments was a health care reform plan — a state-level plan, we might add — that resulted in nearly universal coverage.

All of Romney’s experiences will be needed in the White House over the next four years.
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It’s a gargantuan task, but one we believe Romney’s experience is key to accomplishing. As we said, Romney’s decades working in the private sector give him the perspective to see the problem from the outside looking in.
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It’s not about who’s more likable and approachable. It’s about who is best able to tackle the many fiscal and economic problems confronting the nation. Nothing else.

And that person, we believe, is Republican Mitt Romney.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Cedar Rapids Gazette Endorses Mitt Romney For President

CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE ENDORSES MITT ROMNEY

Gazette Endorsement For President: Romney
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Gazette Editorial Board

October 28, 2012

http://thegazette.com
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But where the nation was most in need — restarting the economy and making significant progress on reducing our enormous national debt that recently soared past $16 trillion and dangerously threatens our future well-being — the president and his administration have come up short.
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Most important, we think Mitt Romney’s business savvy, understanding of the nation and world’s financial ins and outs, and leadership skills proven in public venues are more likely to ignite a robust economic recovery in the next four years.
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Still, the president’s leadership on our massive debt and job problems has been lacking. He hasn’t delivered on promises. Budget deficits have topped $1 trillion every year of his term. Little progress has been in reducing too-high unemployment, and the underemployed segment remains huge. Opportunities for recent college graduates are meager for half of them. The number of Americans on food stamps is unprecedented.
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But we need to do better, much better, and soon if this great nation is to break out of its slump and avoid sliding back into a deeper one.

Romney’s record, experience and his heart give us reason to hope for better.
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The Romney record also demonstrates an ability to lead in the public’s eye. He led the 2002 Winter Olympics out of financial straits. He negotiated balanced budgets and tripled the reserve fund as governor of Massachusetts, where he worked with a legislature of more than 80 percent Democrats. Those skills are so important toward breaking the gridlock that chokes Congress.
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What we believe most strongly is that Romney has the pragmatic skills and commitment to address Job No. 1: get our economy humming and create many more of the jobs Americans need to take care of themselves and their families.

Creating more opportunities for all Americans — not more safety net guarantees — must still be at the heart of this nation’s future if we are to prosper. We endorse Mitt Romney as the best choice toward making that happen.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Richmond Times-Dispatch Endorses Mitt Romney For President

RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH: “PRUDENT CHANGE: ROMNEY PROMISES HOPE FOR RECOVERY”

Prudent Change: Romney Promises Hope For Recovery
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://goo.gl/nQsVx

The tone of the 2012 campaign might best be captured by the need to begin with an emphasis on what the Republican candidate will not do. Mitt Romney will not raise taxes on the middle class. He will not destroy Medicare. And he will not lie to the American people every time he opens his mouth.

Political campaigns exaggerate grossly, play loose with the facts and cast the opposition in the worst light imaginable. Yet it is difficult to recall a campaign less truthful than President Obama's in 2012. Its foundation rests on deeply misleading assertions about Romney, a strategy made inevitable by the current administration's weak record. Barack Obama's accomplishments are too few to merit re-election. So he attacks.
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In the service of accuracy, let's look at the generally straightforward proposals and philosophy espoused by Romney, who strikes us as both more earnest and more accomplished than your average presidential candidate.

Romney understands the value of free enterprise, appreciates its utterly unique ability to alleviate poverty, unleash creative endeavor, spread wealth and lift the burden of ceaseless backbreaking labor. In this year's presidential campaign, he is alone in that respect.

Romney's plan to spur economic growth — a phrase that seems absent from the Obama vocabulary — offers a plausible and pragmatic path to a more energized private sector, the essential element in reviving a robust economy that builds jobs, raises individual incomes, rewards innovation and halts the suicidal expansion of public debt.
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Romney will improve a dysfunctional tax system, as did Ronald Reagan, to encourage work, investment and risk-taking. Less complexity means less corruption and cronyism. By contrast, Obama claims a $60 billion annual tax increase on higher-income Americans, including successful small businesses, will magically erase trillion-dollar deficits while providing extra cash for education, medicine, research and all-around middle-class happiness.

Obama pretends that Republican reformers pose the only real threats to Medicare and Medicaid. Romney acknowledges that these programs face forced marches to bankruptcy unless someone has the courage to fix them. He promises to examine means-testing, market solutions, competition and state-level innovation. His is a progressive approach.

Romney also promises to repeal Obamacare — a singularly necessary step to restore America's entrepreneurial spirit — and replace it with reforms that will not bust the budget, not trample individual rights, not undermine the independence of patients and medical professionals.
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This is the right approach, expressed with the appropriate mix of confidence, clarity and humility. Romney is ready to take command, as he demonstrated in Monday's debate.

Four years ago, Barack Obama's campaign and election generated remarkable pride and optimism, even among many of those who did not vote for him. He seemed filled with promise.

But his presidency has been filled with disappointment and failure. Those issues that inspired the most passion among his supporters — principally having to do with the war powers of the executive and the tension between civil liberty and national security — have been the ones on which his promise-breaking has been most feckless.

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During the debates, the president's personal attacks on his opponent were, most often, met with strong but dignified answers. The president showed himself to be the less presidential of the two contenders. As a result, we know now who is better suited to lead a great but troubled nation.

Mitt Romney has succeeded as a family man, governor, entrepreneur, Olympic leader. He is a man of character, a problem-solver, a turnaround specialist. He has earned our enthusiastic endorsement. America needs President Romney.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Cincinnati Enquirer Endorses Mitt Romney For President

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER: “MITT ROMNEY, A GOVERNOR AND BUSINESS LEADER WITH A RECORD OF SOLVING PROBLEMS”

Presidential Endorsement: Mitt Romney
Cincinnati Enquirer
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://goo.gl/VZyxd

The No.1 issue in our region and our nation today is how to recharge our economy and get more people working in good-paying jobs. President Barack Obama has had four years to overcome the job losses of the Great Recession he inherited, but the recovery has been too slow and too weak. It’s time for new leadership from Mitt Romney, a governor and business leader with a record of solving problems.
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Romney’s experience as a chief executive, business leader and governor position him to be the best candidate to lead us into a new era of streamlined but effective government with a renewed focus on maintaining America as the world’s leading economy. The best indicator of how Romney would lead is his record as governor. There we have evidence of a Romney who governs more moderately than he was forced to campaign in the long runup to the presidential election.
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He came into office in 2003 facing an immediate budget shortfall of $450 million and projections of much worse. It was Massachusetts’ worst recession in decades. Romney’s approach was businesslike, and he didn’t spare any sacred cows. He made deep cuts in local government funding and to education. He didn’t raise state taxes, but he increased fees for many government services, which raised hundreds of millions. He took heat from businesses for closing loopholes that saved them money but cost the state revenue. He blocked companies from transferring intellectual property to out-of-state shell companies, and he barred banks and other companies from avoiding taxes by paper restructuring. The bottom line: He erased the deficit in Massachusetts (which was required by state law) and left office with a $600 million surplus. He replenished the state’s reserve fund two years into his term, pushing it to $2 billion by the time he left office in 2007.
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Romney’s plans for recovery revolve around the economic principles of reducing government regulation, cutting corporate taxes and opening more global markets. It’s an approach consistent with who Mitt Romney is – a businessman and a moderate conservative who doesn’t believe so much in government’s making things happen as he does in lifting government interference so they can happen.
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If Romney can stabilize and expand the U.S. economy, his greatest foreign policy contribution could be employing reinvigorated U.S. economic muscle to influence the global economy. This is a precarious time for America. We’d expect a President Romney to lead toward the center, to resist the calls for a hard turn to the right that are sure to come from within his party. Romney has accomplished progress with divided government – the Massachusetts General Court (the state’s Legislature) is overwhelmingly Democratic. The gridlock in D.C. is entrenched, and we’d urge him to make a priority of finding the common ground and using his leadership to forge compromise, coalitions and solutions. Romney as president should stay true to who he is – a moderate leader who can work with the left and right, with business and with government, and who will set an example, both as an individual and as the leader of the United States of America.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Sioux City Journal Endorses Mitt Romney For President

SIOUX CITY JOURNAL: “MITT ROMNEY: HE’S THE CHANGE AMERICA NEEDS”

Mitt Romney: He's The Change America Needs
Sioux City Journal
Editorial

October 28, 2012

http://siouxcityjournal.com

In a presidential election centered on domestic economic issues at a crucial moment in history, voters this year must decide if they are or are not satisfied with and confident about the direction in which America is moving.

We are neither satisfied nor confident. In our view, change is needed.

Because we wish to see the country chart a new course to economic vitality and fiscal sanity, the Journal endorses former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States.

In Romney, who we endorsed to be the Republican nominee before both the 2008 and 2012 Iowa Caucuses, we see a man possessed of successful, executive decision-making experience in both the private and public sectors who understands economics and who would apply necessary conservative principles to meeting the country's fiscal challenges. We would rather put our faith in the blueprint put forth by Romney than in another four years of Barack Obama.

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America can't afford another four years like the last four years. Continuing this course of growing government, more spending and more borrowing eventually will crush this nation. It simply isn't sustainable.

The approach articulated by Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, is fundamentally different. To create more consumer confidence, business opportunities, jobs, investment, trade and domestic energy production, Romney promises less. His vision involves less federal spending, lower taxes for individuals, families and businesses, a smaller number of government programs and streamlined regulations on businesses and industries (according to the Small Business Administration, the annual cost to Americans of federal regulations is $1.75 trillion).

In our view, this is the roadmap to short- and long-term economic growth, strength and prosperity.

To enact his plan, Romney must forge consensus within Congress and rally the nation. Romney founded his own venture capital and investment company and turned the once-troubled 2002 Winter Olympic Games into a profit-maker. He led a state in which registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans nearly three to one and 85 percent of the Legislature was Democratic at the time from a $3 billion budget deficit when he took office in January 2003 to a $700 million budget surplus by the end of 2004. In other words, he knows how to build success, achieve reform and bring people of different political stripes together in support of goals.

Romney represents the change America needs.

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**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

Quad-City Times Endorses Mitt Romney For President

QUAD CITY TIMES ENDORSES MITT ROMNEY: “READY FOR CHANGE”

Ready For Change
Quad City Times
Times Editorial Board

October 28, 2012

http://qctimes.com

We invested heavily in hope back in 2008.

Our 2012 endorsement of Mitt Romney comes with an imperative for change.

The change that we’d hoped would elevate our economy wound up woefully short. The presidential gambit to place health-care reform ahead of economic recovery jeopardized both. President Barack Obama expended all of the presidential leadership on muscling through health care reform, leaving little for implementation and none for significant economic recovery.
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This year, the Republican ticket is led by a candidate with a proven record of moderate governance, legislative leadership and compromise. Mitt Romney arrives at the presidency with global leadership experience and a track record of turnarounds.

No need to rely on hope. His record includes evidence of change. He changed the trajectory of a failing U.S. Winter Olympics. He changed the path of Massachusetts with a health care plan we admire, even if Romney is now less than enthused.

He picked a running mate who has specific deficit reduction plans, not just hopeful intentions. Ryan’s plan cuts too deeply in some areas and needs significant compromise, particularly on the future of Medicare, but these plans are in the hands of a presidential team experienced in compromise.

Our interest in Romney jelled into support through the debates, where we saw his leadership and pragmatic managerial experience shine through. He didn’t just say what ardent Republicans wanted to hear. In fact, he stated his unequivocal support for women’s contraception rights, knowing it would incense a huge number of Christian and Catholic voters.
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We’re confident he’ll be as responsive to all Americans if elected president.
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Today, we endorse a successful leader focused on economic recovery and growth and deficit reduction. We endorse a proven manager who won’t need on-the-job training. We endorse a compromiser who offers the best hope of breaking congressional gridlock.

Most of all, we endorse change.

We endorse Mitt Romney for president.

**In compliance with copyright laws, this version of the editorial is excerpted**

http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/our-presidential-endorsement-ready-for-change/article_99b6bf4e-20a2-11e2-b68d-0019bb2963f4.html