Des Moines Register Endorses Romney

The Des Moines Register has meted out its presidential endorsement, and it's going with a Republican for the first time since Nixon. While acknowledging deep divisions both in the nation and its editorial board, the Register, which also endorsed Mitt Romney during the Republican primaries, looks with an eye toward who can "forge the compromises in Congress" needed to fix the economy, and decides the challenger emerges the stronger candidate.

The LA Times calls the endorsement "notable because of the Register's long history of supporting Democrats," but more importantly, "it may offer a window into the mood of heartland voters in a state that is a crucial battleground." Team Obama, meanwhile, won one in a state that is decidedly not swinging: The New York Times comes out swinging for the incumbent today, dismissing Romney as a candidate with a murky, "regressive" economic plan who "has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear." While dinging Obama on "individual policy choices," the Times decides he is "clearly ready for the partisan battles" that lie ahead and "we enthusiastically endorse" him for a second term—with hope that "his victory will be accompanied by a new Congress." (More Des Moines Register stories.)