One of the major questions on many Obama supporters’ minds is will the American electorate be fooled by political manouevring and disinformation? This column about Utah’s largest newspaper not paying attention to major considerations to opt for President Obama is therefore reassuring. Thanks to Janis.
Largest Utah Newspaper Endorses Obama
By Nathaniel Downes, Addicting Info, Oct. 19, 2012
https://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/10/19/largest-utah-newspaper-endorses-obama/
It is not every day when the largest newspaper in Utah endorses a President. But it is noteworthy when the largest newspaper in Utah endorses the man running against the first Mormon on a major party ticket.
This morning the Salt Lake Tribune, owned by MediaNews Group out of Denver, made their endorsement. Instead of the expected endorsement of Mitt Romney, who had turned around the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics just a decade ago, they made a clear case as to why they instead chose his opponent, the sitting President of the United Stated, Barack Obama.
From the Tribune:
But it was Romney’s singular role in rescuing Utah’s organization of the 2002 Olympics from a cesspool of scandal, and his oversight of the most successful Winter Games on record, that make him the Beehive State’s favorite adopted son. After all, Romney managed to save the state from ignominy, turning the extravaganza into a showcase for the matchless landscapes, volunteerism and efficiency that told the world what is best and most beautiful about Utah and its people.
In short, this is the Mitt Romney we knew, or thought we knew, as one of us.
Sadly, it is not the only Romney, as his campaign for the White House has made abundantly clear, first in his servile courtship of the tea party in order to win the nomination, and now as the party’s shape-shifting nominee. From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: “Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?”
They directly go after Romney’s flip-flopping of positions, his inability to stay consistent, as primary reasons that he failed to get their endorsement. They call him shameless, an opportunist who will say anything to the audience he is before to win them over. They ask where the pragmatic, centrist Mitt Romney that they’d fallen in love with had gone.
Then they turned their focus on the President himself. While the Tribune admitted that Obama’s policies were not what they would call perfect, they were consistent. They know what Obama believes, and they point out correctly that despite his personal beliefs, he was willing to compromise in order to fix the country. They point out that despite the challenges, Obama pulled through, having navigated his way through the deep financial mess we all were going through. They cite his wisdom in focusing on manufacturing and not financial rescues.
They close with this:
Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.
I could not say it better myself.