"President Barack Obama entered the Oval Office under dire conditions -- a hemorrhaging economy and a dispirited GOP intent on limiting him to one term, at any cost. Despite those odds, he has kept his cool and his head. His policies helped the middle class and kept a deep recession from becoming worse. He repaired America's reputation in the world. And he got important legislation passed. For that, the nation is better -- not fully healed, but pushing forward. He has earned another four years."
Detroit Free Press in Michigan:
"Obama's second four-year term ought to be a no-brainer. Most two-term presidents can't claim to have gotten as much done. The country is safer. Its economy and its largest industry have been restored to health. And health-care reform, fought out over 50 years in the U.S. Congress, has at last begun in earnest. When Republicans say pejoratively that Obama 'can't run on his record,' they're peddling partisan nonsense and indulging a myopic fiction. The Free Press enthusiastically endorses Barack Hussein Obama for four more years as president."
Salt Lake Tribune, in Mormon Utah:
"President Barack Obama has attempted, with varying degrees of success, to pull the nation out of its worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, a deepening crisis on the day he took office. ... The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first."
New York Times:
"Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear. But he has tied himself to the ultraconservative forces that control the Republican Party and embraced their policies, including reckless budget cuts and 30-year-old, discredited trickle-down ideas. ... We enthusiastically endorse President Barack Obama for a second term, and express the hope that his victory will be accompanied by a new Congress willing to work for policies that Americans need."
On this Election Day, The Charleston Gazette chose to let a few others speak about the most important question facing the United States.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Retired Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican who was both U.S. secretary of state and joint chiefs chairman, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for re-election, saying:
"When he took over, we were in one of the worst recessions we had seen in recent times, close to a depression. And I saw over the next several years stabilization come back in the financial community. Housing is starting to pick up. The president saved the auto industry. And the acts that he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. And so I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on."
Meanwhile, here are some selected newspaper endorsements:
San Jose Mercury News in California:
"Barack Obama deserves a second term as president. Mitt Romney does not come close to measuring up to him as an honest, forthright and compassionate leader. Obama inherited a mess -- George W. Bush's legacy, which got us into two wars and the worst economic crisis in 80 years. The president has repaired some of the damage: 5 million private-sector jobs have been created since 2008. And he has the best chance of restoring prosperity, certainly better than Romney, whose economic platitudes and foreign policy bluster portend a return to the Bush era.... Romney has been dishonest. It's not just his changing positions on so many issues. ... It's the calculated deception that's alarming. His jobs and deficit-reduction plans are pure fantasy. ... This election is about values. The person in the Oval Office must be trustworthy."
Sacramento Bee in California:
"Voters often say they want their elected leaders to keep their promises and, at crucial moments, show real political backbone. President Barack Obama deserves a second term largely because he has delivered on both of these fronts. ... Obama -- unruffled by Looney Tunes claims that he is a 'socialist' and a 'Marxist' -- has pursued a consistent, moderate path that has pulled this country back from the brink and put it on a path toward recovery. ... Mitt Romney has taken flip-flopping to new extremes ... It goes to the core of his presidential campaign -- and to trust and character. How can Americans ever believe what he says?"
Kansas City Star in Missouri:
"President Barack Obama entered the Oval Office under dire conditions -- a hemorrhaging economy and a dispirited GOP intent on limiting him to one term, at any cost. Despite those odds, he has kept his cool and his head. His policies helped the middle class and kept a deep recession from becoming worse. He repaired America's reputation in the world. And he got important legislation passed. For that, the nation is better -- not fully healed, but pushing forward. He has earned another four years."
Detroit Free Press in Michigan:
"Obama's second four-year term ought to be a no-brainer. Most two-term presidents can't claim to have gotten as much done. The country is safer. Its economy and its largest industry have been restored to health. And health-care reform, fought out over 50 years in the U.S. Congress, has at last begun in earnest. When Republicans say pejoratively that Obama 'can't run on his record,' they're peddling partisan nonsense and indulging a myopic fiction. The Free Press enthusiastically endorses Barack Hussein Obama for four more years as president."
Salt Lake Tribune, in Mormon Utah:
"President Barack Obama has attempted, with varying degrees of success, to pull the nation out of its worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, a deepening crisis on the day he took office. ... The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first."
New York Times:
"Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear. But he has tied himself to the ultraconservative forces that control the Republican Party and embraced their policies, including reckless budget cuts and 30-year-old, discredited trickle-down ideas. ... We enthusiastically endorse President Barack Obama for a second term, and express the hope that his victory will be accompanied by a new Congress willing to work for policies that Americans need."
On this Election Day, The Charleston Gazette chose to let a few others speak about the most important question facing the United States.
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