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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn the basis of sound leadership, re-elect Obama (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Saturday, October 20, 2012, 6:01 PM
Four years ago, this newspaper's editorial board enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama, then a young senator from Illinois, for president of the United States. As much as we admired the long and courageous service of his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, we believed that the nation needed fresh ideas and the fresh start that a leader with Obama's charisma and only-in-America backstory could provide.
Today, we recommend President Obama's re-election. He has led the nation back from the brink of depression. Ohio in particular has benefited from his bold decision to revive the domestic auto industry. Because of his determination to fulfill a decades-old dream of Democrats, 30 million more Americans will soon have health insurance. His Race to the Top initiative seeded many of the education reforms embodied in Cleveland's Transformation Plan. He ended the war in Iraq and refocused the battle to disrupt al-Qaida and its terrorist allies. He ordered the risky attack inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.
And yet our endorsement this year comes with less enthusiasm or optimism.
Obama has changed -- and it's more than gray hair. The unifier of 2008 now engages in relentless attacks on his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The big dreamer of 2008 offers little in the way of a second-term agenda. There is a world-weariness unseen four years ago.
More: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/10/on_the_basis_of_sound_leadersh.html#incart_2box
msongs
(67,460 posts)gleannfia
(66 posts)new appreciation of my native Cleveland. I always thought the Plain Dealer was a Republican rag.
OhioChick
(23,218 posts)They've shocked me by endorsing Obama 4 years ago and again, now.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)The unifier of 2008 now engages in relentless attacks on his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Have these guys been paying attention? Obama clobbers Rmoney with the truth, and Rmoney tells lies. Obama is using the truth about Rmoney to keep us safe. A man like Rmoney could be a disaster for our country and the world.
Doremus
(7,261 posts)WTF would they have him do?
I'll tell ya if that stupid statement doesn't perfectly illustrate how potus can't often win for losing, nothing does.