Key Iowa paper backs Romney for president
By Deborah Charles | Reuters
DES MOINES (Reuters) - The main newspaper in Iowa, the Des Moines Register, Saturday endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race, less than three weeks before the state holds the first nominating contest for the 2012 election on January 3.
The newspaper said Romney stands out in the field of Republican candidates who are trying to become their party's nominee who will attempt to stop Democratic President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
"Mitt Romney is making his second bid for Iowans' support after an unsuccessful run in 2008," the newspaper said on its website in an editorial that will run in Sunday's newspapers.
"We did not endorse him then, but this is a different field, and he has matured as a candidate. Rebuilding the economy is the nation's top priority, and Romney makes the best case among the Republicans that he could do that."
In an editorial entitled "Mitt Romney is the best to lead" the newspaper said the former Massachusetts governor possessed the qualities of wisdom, sobriety and judgment.
"Those are qualities Mitt Romney said he looks for in a leader. Those are qualities Romney himself has demonstrated in his career in business, public service and government," the editorial said. "Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses."
Viewed early on as the likely front-runner, Romney has played second fiddle in popularity to several of the other Republican candidates.
But public opinion polls have shown that support for the latest front-runner in Iowa, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, seemed to be fading as Romney's firmed.
A Rasmussen poll showed Romney with a slight lead over Gingrich in Iowa. Two other polls show Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican congressman, moving into second place behind Gingrich in Iowa and gunning for an upset that would almost certainly help Romney by stopping Gingrich's rise.
The Des Moines Register made a few comments about the other top candidates that it did not choose.
"He stands out especially among candidates now in the top tier: Newt Gingrich is an undisciplined partisan who would alienate, not unite, if he reverts to mean-spirited attacks on display as House speaker.
"Ron Paul's libertarian ideology would lead to economic chaos and isolationism, neither of which this nation can afford."
(Reporting by Deborah Charles; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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By Deborah Charles | Reuters
DES MOINES (Reuters) - The main newspaper in Iowa, the Des Moines Register, Saturday endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race, less than three weeks before the state holds the first nominating contest for the 2012 election on January 3.
The newspaper said Romney stands out in the field of Republican candidates who are trying to become their party's nominee who will attempt to stop Democratic President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
"Mitt Romney is making his second bid for Iowans' support after an unsuccessful run in 2008," the newspaper said on its website in an editorial that will run in Sunday's newspapers.
"We did not endorse him then, but this is a different field, and he has matured as a candidate. Rebuilding the economy is the nation's top priority, and Romney makes the best case among the Republicans that he could do that."
In an editorial entitled "Mitt Romney is the best to lead" the newspaper said the former Massachusetts governor possessed the qualities of wisdom, sobriety and judgment.
"Those are qualities Mitt Romney said he looks for in a leader. Those are qualities Romney himself has demonstrated in his career in business, public service and government," the editorial said. "Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses."
Viewed early on as the likely front-runner, Romney has played second fiddle in popularity to several of the other Republican candidates.
But public opinion polls have shown that support for the latest front-runner in Iowa, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, seemed to be fading as Romney's firmed.
A Rasmussen poll showed Romney with a slight lead over Gingrich in Iowa. Two other polls show Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican congressman, moving into second place behind Gingrich in Iowa and gunning for an upset that would almost certainly help Romney by stopping Gingrich's rise.
The Des Moines Register made a few comments about the other top candidates that it did not choose.
"He stands out especially among candidates now in the top tier: Newt Gingrich is an undisciplined partisan who would alienate, not unite, if he reverts to mean-spirited attacks on display as House speaker.
"Ron Paul's libertarian ideology would lead to economic chaos and isolationism, neither of which this nation can afford."
(Reporting by Deborah Charles; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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