NY Observer Switches Sides: Backs Romney

With 19 days to go before voters pick the next president, Mitt Romney has picked an early newspaper endorsement from the New York Observer.

The weekly paper — which in 2008 backed Barack Obama against John McCain — made no bones about why it has changed parties, calling the Republican nominee “not a demagogue but a manager, a candidate whose experience is rooted in the pragmatism of the business world rather than the ideology of partisan politics.”

The Observer, which claims to have the most affluent readership in the Big Apple, said Romney “understands how to build businesses, create efficiencies, make tough deals, and carefully consider divergent viewpoints.”

“America needs a strong leader, a practical leader,” the paper continues in its endorsement. “Mr. Romney knows full well that it would be a tragic mistake to simply assume that the United States will continue to be the world’s economic powerhouse simply because that’s what we’ve been for decades.”

The Observer says that in 2008 Obama “captured the imagination of many Americans with his thrilling message of change,” but has failed to deliver.

“Given the challenges confronting the president — two raging wars and an unprecedented global economic collapse — the desire for a quick fix was unrealistic,” it says, adding that Obama’s presidency “so filled with potential, has failed to deliver the change America needs.”

It adds, “Class warfare might be a successful strategy for cobbling together 270 electoral votes. But it’s not the way to unite a divided nation.”