Des Moines Register Endorses Romney to be GOP Presidential Candidate

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Des Moines Register announced Saturday it was endorsing Mitt Romney to become the Republican presidential candidate.

In nominating the former Massachusetts governor, the newspaper's editorial board said, "Sobriety, wisdom 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.

"Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses."

The newspaper said Romney had "matured as a candidate" since his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008, when the Register instead backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Mitt Romney is making his second bid for Iowans' support after an unsuccessful run in 2008. 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," it wrote.

"He stands out in the current field of Republican candidates. He has solid credentials in a career that includes running and starting successful businesses, turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics and working with both political parties as Massachusetts governor to pass important initiatives.

"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."

The Register has endorsed candidates before general elections for more than 60 years and began Iowa caucuses endorsements in 1988.

"For more than a year, the Register staff and editorial board have been exposed to these candidates, paying close attention to their positions and visions for what America could be," the newspaper's editor Rick Green said before Saturday night's announcement.

"Our goal is to answer one question: Who would make the best leader for our country should he or she land in the White House."