The Orlando Sentinel endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Friday after backing President Barack Obama four years ago.
"We have little confidence that Obama would be more successful managing the economy and the budget in the next four years," the newspaper said in an editorial. "For that reason, though we endorsed him in 2008, we are recommending Romney in this race."
The editorial criticized Obama harshly: “Economic growth, three years into the recovery, is anemic. Family incomes are down, poverty is up.
“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.”
The editorial added that it was not enthusiastic about the GOP challenger, either.
"Romney is not our ideal candidate for president,” the editorial said. “We've been turned off by his appeals to social conservatives and immigration extremists. Like most presidential hopefuls, including Obama four years ago, Romney faces a steep learning curve on foreign policy.”
With 19 days before the Nov. 6 election, many newspapers are endorsing candidates. Both The Tennessean in Nashville and The New York Observer, which is owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law, also backed Romney this week after supporting Obama in 2008.
And Obama picked up endorsements on Friday from three newspapers that supported him four years ago: The Denver Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, and another large Florida paper, the Tampa Bay Times.
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