Arizona Republic Endorses Mitt Romney

The usually left leaning Arizona Republic today boldly announced its endorsement of Mitt Romney for President. Citing a desperate need for job creation, managed debt and a need for true health care reform the editorial staff of the Republic carefully explained desire to see the United States return to the super power of which it is capable.

From the Republic: We believe the nation’s best opportunity to escape the compounding woes of spiraling debt and economic stagnation lies with a president who believes in the free market’s capacity to heal its own wounds.

That leader is Romney. The nation’s economy now is in desperate need of the kind of jobs-creating animal spirits that President Romney would encourage.

The economy indisputably will benefit, perhaps significantly, from a flatter, fairer system of taxation along the lines proposed by Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan.

It will benefit, too, from a regulatory environment that does not smother small businesses with punitive, anti-competitive, hoop-jumping requirements that favor their bigger competitors. We expect a Romney administration to foster that kind of growth-oriented, business-friendly environment.

But, more to the point, we expect better job growth in a Romney economy mostly because Mitt Romney does not fear or dislike a free-wheeling, growing, free-market economy.

We cannot say the same of President Obama.

The editors remind the reader that President Obama has worked diligently to promote the view government not individuals grow the economy casting aside the long held belief that small business is the backbone of the country.

The reason Obama’s infamous “You didn’t build that” comment on July 13 in Roanoke, Va., resonated among his political opponents wasn’t because it revealed some great secret.

It resonated because it validated a suspicion that the president has done little to dismiss. He has consolidated federal power and reach in health care, banking, the auto industry and energy production. He has fostered the view that all good economic things flow from Washington.

It’s an interesting review. The state of Arizona continues to struggle with the poor housing market, foreclosures, and unacceptable unemployment numbers. Most analysts put the state in the red column so perhaps the Republic is just hoping to gain approval and perhaps subscriptions among its readers. Never the less, an endorsement by the newspaper of record for the of Arizona is still a coup for the Romney-Ryan team.

You can read the entire editorial at the Republic’s website AZCentral.