Orlando Sentinel, Which Endorsed Obama in 2008, Endorses Romney in 2012

Predictable endorsements don't matter.

Unpredictable ones-- papers jumping from Obama to Romney, as the NY Observer did, and now so too the Orlando Sentinel -- just might.

Economic growth, three years into the recovery, is anemic. Family incomes are down, poverty is up. Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, highlighted these and other hard truths in this week's second debate.

Even the September jobless numbers deserve an asterisk, because more than 4 million Americans have given up looking for work since January 2009.

And while the nation's economy is still sputtering nearly four years after Obama took office, the federal government is more than $5 trillion deeper in debt. It just racked up its fourth straight 13-figure shortfall.

We have little confidence that Obama would be more successful managing the economy and the budget in the next four years. For that reason, though we endorsed him in 2008, we are recommending Romney in this race.

Obama's defenders would argue that he inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, and would have made more progress if not for obstruction from Republicans in Congress. But Democrats held strong majorities in the House and Senate during his first two years.

Other presidents have succeeded even with the other party controlling Capitol Hill. Democrat Bill Clinton presided over an economic boom and balanced the budget working with Republicans. Leaders find a way.

There's more, of course, but I can't quote too much. The next part I wanted to quote was about Obama's lack of any plan on entitlements and the deficit, but you'll have to click through for that.

PS: Clips from the Al Smith dinner now embedded in the below post. Romney was pretty rough on Obama.

Orlando Sentinel, Which Endorsed Obama in 2008, Endorses Romney in 2012&bodytext=Predictable endorsements don't matter. Unpredictable ones-- papers jumping from Obama to Romney, as the NY Observer did, and now so too the Orlando Sentinel -- just might. Economic growth, three years into the recovery, is anemic. Family incomes are down,...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 09:47 PM

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