Did Mitt Romney Write His Columbus Dispatch Endorsement?

image of The Columbus Dispatch sign downtown

Wow! The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch hit all the GOP talking points in their recent editorial endorsing Mitt Romney for President. What kind of shocked me was the inclusion the subtly racist one that says ‘We gave the guy a chance so it is okay to vote him out of office’ that comes from the ad the Republican National Committee is running on the local Dispatch owned TV station now. I wonder if the Romney campaign and/or the RNC wrote the editorial because rational people know all the talking points have been rebutted multiple times.

The editorial starts out as you would expect from a Republican biased owner and publisher:

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Kelly Clarkson Stubs Her Toe On Ron Paul

image of Kelly Clarkson and Ron Paul

Singer Kelly Clarkson tweeted that she supported Republican/Libertarian Ron Paul for the GOP nomination. After some push back she clarified that she didn’t support his more homophobic, anti-woman, anti-poor, anti-minority views. Clarkson is entitled to her views but her love of Ron Paul while seeming to ignore the extreme side of him, is troubling.

Clarkson wrote:

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Coach Woody Hayes endorses Herman Cain??

image of a Woody Hayes impersonator

Herman Cain made a campaign stop at The Ohio State University in Columbus on Wednesday 11/30/11 and a Coach Woody Hayes impersonator introduced him. Woody Hayes endorsing Herman Cain? Is that really appropriate for a public college icon? Does this mean that Brutus Buckeye will be endorsing Romney or Newt next? I hope not. The introduction, which was pretty political, seemed to be an inappropriate use of a symbol of a publicly funded University.

Woody, who has been dead since 1987, was a staunch Republican. He was a personal friend of President Richard Nixon. Nixon even gave the eulogy at Woody’s funeral. Woody Hayes also was someone who valued character and integrity above all else. He also knew a lot about US foreign policy and endowed the National Security Studies chair at Ohio State’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies. I strongly doubt Woody would support someone like Herman Cain, who lacks those things.

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Et tu, Colin Powell?

Well it seems that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President. Conservatives will say he is doing because he is black as if that stereotype is the ONLY reason that could be true. Powell gave some good reasons in his appearance on Meet the Press and to the press after the show.

I have always liked and respected Powell. Even though he is a Republican he is moderate. During his military career he never believed the military should be the first resort but it should be diplomacy.

Unlike many people of my political view of the Iraq war, I still believe that Powell was used by Bush, Cheney, and the other neo-cons to put lipstick on the pig for war. He based his presentation to the UN to make the case for war on faulty intelligence which the President knew was false but he let Powell sell the rotten fish anyway.

In September 2005, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with Barbara Walters and responded that it was a “blot” on his record. He went on to say, “It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now.”

Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane Relief

It might be time to put the dogs in the truck – this one might be over…

Columbus Dispatch – John McCain – POW

Another funky endorsement of John McCain by the Columbus Dispatch. It seems the reasons used were McCain’s years in the Senate, his “maverickness”, keeping the Democrats from having unchecked power, and he was a POW.

Then there was this funny bit:

At a time when the nation faces serious problems, including international economic turmoil, immigration, health care, war in Afghanistan, nation-building in Iraq and foreign-policy challenges from the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, the president should have an extensive resume and long experience in grappling with tough decisions. Few new presidents have faced an assignment as tough as the one facing the winner of the November election.

The editorial board of the Dispatch seem to forget that until one is President you can’t have that kind of experience before hand. No President has. It is a special job. In the decisions McCain has made recently – how he has run his campaign for one example and choosing Sarah Palin for another – don’t show a good a light on his supposed ability to make tough decisions.

A good President needs to be able to have some vision of the future and McCain has shown he doesn’t have that.

Then there was this bit:

Among the top problems facing the United States is its dire fiscal situation. The nation has a $10 trillion debt and other unfunded obligations to entitlement programs that total $53 trillion. The federal deficit this year is nearly $458 billion and some project the 2009 deficit could hit $700 billion. Despite these staggering numbers, lawmakers and the president just approved a $700 billion Wall Street bailout that they don’t have the money to pay for. In short, the United States is dangerously overextended at a time when a worldwide recession threatens.

For years, The Dispatch has called on the president and Congress to deal with this massive, mounting debt which threatens the prosperity and quality of life of generations to come. But year after year, the nation’s leaders have kicked the problem down the road.

Seriously confronting this problem will require a president able to call on Americans to make sacrifices for the sake of their grandchildren.

The president will have to ask them to accept cuts in popular programs, tax increases and lowered expectations of what government can afford to do.

Because of the personal sacrifices that McCain has made for the nation, he has unmatched moral authority to call on Americans to take their medicine. If elected, that is precisely what he should do.

For president: John McCain

The thing is McCain hasn’t made that call. He is still promising the moon from the stump. At least Obama has acknowledged some of his plans will have to be changed because of the problems with the bailout.