Nevada paper goes for Romney over Obama – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs
politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/20/nevada-paper-goes-for-romney-over-obama/
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Nevada paper, Reno Gazette-Journal, ENDORSES Romney over Obamahttp://t.co/duSIkOpL #tcot
October 20th, 2012
05:37 PM ET
2 hours ago
Nevada paper goes for Romney over Obama
Posted by
CNN's Gregory Wallace
(CNN) – Another swing state newspaper weighed in with an endorsement in the presidential race on Saturday.
The Reno Gazette-Journal threw its weight behind Republican nominee Mitt Romney, saying "Obama cannot avoid the consequences of poor decisions and misplaced priorities." But the paper did so somewhat hesitantly.
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"It wasn't an easy decision. A recommendation against an incumbent can't be taken lightly," the paper wrote.
But in the two debates so far this month, "the president has shown little understanding of how his failures are affecting the nation, and he hasn't offered any tangible proposals to change course."
Obama's primary failing was his focus on the health reform law, the Gazette-Journal opined. Meanwhile, the economy, and Nevada's in particular, struggled.
In that vein, Romney has his work cut out for him, should he be elected, the paper noted.
"As president, Romney's most important task will be to convince a recalcitrant Congress - including unhappy Democrats who will want to emulate the Republican blockade of the past few years - that there are good reasons to work with him," the newspaper said. "We're hopeful that his willingness to shift positions is the hallmark of a consensus builder who can work across party lines to govern the country effectively and not political expedience."
Excerpts of the endorsement distributed by the Romney campaign largely left out the paper's skeptical words of Romney. Among them: "The Republican candidate has shown a troubling willingness to shift his position on key issues, and the Romney who sat down with the Gazette-Journal's Editorial Board in January did not appear to be the same one seen on the primary campaign trail, and that Romney seemed to be different than the one we saw at the two presidential debates held thus far."
It previously endorsed Romney in his 2008 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. This year's editorial noted that the paper considered Obama a "gamble" four years ago.
The Reno Gazette-Journal is the smaller of two daily papers in Nevada which has its circulation data tracked.
Major newspapers in Colorado, Florida and Utah announced their endorsements of Obama on Friday, and on Thursday, Romney picked up the backing of a significant Florida paper.
