The Salt Lake Tribune endorses Obama!

[MoonRiver]

Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear.

More troubling, Romney has repeatedly refused to share specifics of his radical plan to simultaneously reduce the debt, get rid of Obamacare (or, as he now says, only part of it), make a voucher program of Medicare, slash taxes and spending, and thereby create millions of new jobs. To claim, as Romney does, that he would offset his tax and spending cuts (except for billions more for the military) by doing away with tax deductions and exemptions, is utterly meaningless without identifying which and how many would get the ax. Absent those specifics, his promise of a balanced budget simply does not pencil out.

If this portrait of a Romney willing to say anything to get elected seems harsh, we need only revisit his branding of 47 percent of Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, yet feel victimized and entitled to government assistance. His job, he told a group of wealthy donors, "is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

More at:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/55019844-82/romney-obama-state-president.html.csp

[yellerpup]

1. Wow!

That was unexpected.

[regnaD kciN]

2. I assume the Trib is not LDS-owned?

Good for a laugh, but I suspect it will increase Obama's share of the Utah vote from 20% to...20.1%. Maybe.

[Autumn Colors]

5. No, they own the other SLC paper (Deseret News) (nt)

[Hamlette]

7. the SLTribune was started by Tom Kearns, a rich, local politician who wanted to run for office but

could not get the Desert News, the Mormon paper to run his ads.

This was in the 1860s or 70s. Kearns was a catholic who made his money mining (the LDS church forbid its members from working in the mines so there are pockets in Utah where there were no Mormons because there were mines there). But even though it was started an run by catholics for years, if you are not a mormon in Utah, everyone else is on your side. Catholics, jews, atheists...all best friends around here.

The Trib endorsed Obama last time too.

[FSogol]

3. Awesome article. n/t

[Autumn Colors]

4. Very nice, but

Salt Lake has two major papers. If the Deseret News were to endorse the President over Romney, then I'd start watching for some flying pigs.

[IDemo]

6. I think Utah and Idaho share purple capitols in neon-red states

Both states have large Mormon populations and extremely conservative political bases in all but the capitols and a sprinkling of surrounding areas. Salt Lake's former mayor Rocky Anderson was a quite vocal liberal. Boise's Democratic mayor Dave Bieter gave an impassioned plea for Obama votes (and even a Basque cheer) at the 2008 caucus.