Des Moines Register endorses Romney. The first endorsement of a republican since Nixon. And we all

[ohiosmith]

know how that worked out!

For the first time in 40 years, the Des Moines Register has endorsed a Republican for President, becoming one of the most significant newspapers to switch from Obama in 2008 to Romney in 2012.  (The Register helpfully adds a list of every presidential candidate they have endorsed since 1912, and whether they went on to win or lose the election.)

Iowa is very hotly contested in the closing days of the election, with six electoral votes up for grabs.  Obama pushed hard to get the Register’s endorsement, but his weird initial demand to keep his final phone interview with the editorial board off the record seems to have irked them, and rightly so.  Their endorsement of Romney does not mention the incident, instead following much the same pattern as the other Obama 2008 papers that have switched to Romney: praise for Romney’s “strong record of achievement in both the private and the public sectors,” the managerial skills he demonstrated when rescuing the 2002 Winter Olympics, and his skill at reaching across the aisle to get things done.  (Amusingly, they credit Obama with “reaching out to Republicans” early in his administration, having apparently forgotten all the “I won” and “go to the back of the bus” stuff.)

This praise for Romney is coupled with disappointment at Obama’s poor performance and general failure to live up to his campaign promises from 2008: “Barack Obama rocketed to the presidency from relative obscurity with a theme of hope and change. A different reality has marked his presidency. His record on the economy the past four years does not suggest he would lead in the direction the nation must go in the next four years.”

The Des Moines Register notes that its decision to endorse Romney did not come easily:

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/29/the-des-moines-register-endorses-mitt-romney/

[bklyncowgirl]

1. Would you buy a used car from this man? nt

[ohiosmith]

2. Exactly!

[goclark]

3. Bet the money that they received

for the endorcement under the table came easy for them .....

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. That was a crazy bonehead endorsement

It made no sense to me. To me, it is the worst op-ed that I've read since you had those two Fox Democrats penning a piece in 2010/2011 suggesting that President Obama refuse to run for a second term. The sad thing is that some people read that junk and are influenced by it.

[bullwinkle428]

5. So the Register editorial board is pissed that PBO didn't personally come in and kiss their rings?

[nichomachus]

6. Do you know anyone who bases their vote for president on a newspaper endorsement?

Maybe on a ballot question that I don't understand -- In CA they're written to purposely mislead you. OTOH, our local newspaper is a right-wing rag, so I disagree with them about 95 percent of the time.

Although this year, they did endorse a Democrat for Congress over a seven-term GOP corporate shill. That was a shocker. Although the Republican had pissed off the local Latino community, which is huge, and the Indians, who have a very large presence here -- not to mention a lot of money.

[Democratopia]

7. I wonder if they were paid to give that endorsement

Because they haven't named one Romney policy they agree on and when the editor was asked by MSNBC about Romney trust issues he was unable to answer. Strange kind of endorsement.

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. Why does the media ...

constantly reference:

praise for Romney’s “strong record of achievement in both the private and the public sectors,”

Without spelling out those strong records ... Okay, public sector: he made a lot of money by taking other peoples' money and buying companies, stripping them of their assets (human and capital) and selling them ... Public sector: he left office with his state at near bottom in terms of job-creation, at a time when other states were experiencing growth; he raised fees just about everywhere he could; he cut funding for education.

the managerial skills he demonstrated when rescuing the 2002 Winter Olympics,

Saved it by taking hundreds of millions from the federal government AND personally profitted, financially, on the Olympics.

and his skill at reaching across the aisle to get things done.

No mention that many/most of those "bipartisan" accomplishments resulted from bipartisan over-riding of governor romney's vetoes.

[Marr]

9. Does that seem weird to anyone else?

Their endorsement went to Romney because the Obama campaign insisted on keeping an interview off the record?

That seems an awfully petty reason to endorse a candidate, which makes me think they were going to endorse Romney anyway, which makes me think the Obama campaign's decision about keeping the interview off the record was a smart one.

I wonder if the Obama campaign got word that the paper was planning some kind of eleventh hour 'gotcha question' for the conservative media to hype right before the election.

[VenusRising]

10. Bain has a connection with the Des Moines Register.

http://www.examiner.com/article/does-mitt-romney-really-own-the-des-moines-register

The Des Moines Register is in fact owned by Gannett.

Gannett did enter a contract with WSI in 2012.

WSI is owned by the Weather Channel.

The Weather Channel is owned by NBC Universal.

NBC Universal, the Blackstone Group, and Bain Capital do have a consortium.