As Final Presidential Debate Approaches, Newspaper Endorsements Roll In

Obama has gained key newspaper endorsements around the country, though Romney is catching up in swing states

Newspaper endorsements for President Obama and Mitt Romney are rolling in in the battleground states, though their impact in a campaign soaked in PAC advertising and informed by Twitter wars are an open question.

Getty ImagesBut for the record:

>> in Ohio, a key battleground for the presidency, Obama won endorsement from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal. The Columbus Dispatch announced it was backing Romney on Sunday.

"After nearly four years of economic stagnation, massive unemployment, record-setting debt and government intrusions into the economy that have paralyzed the private sector, the United States needs a new direction," the Columbus paper wrote.

Two other newspapers that endorsed Obama in 2008, the Dayton Daily News and the Toledo Blade, have remained silent.

>> in Florida, another key battleground state Romney has secured endorsements from the Orlando Sentinel and the Tampa Tribune. But the Tampa Bay Times, which teamed with Politico for coverage of the Republican National Convention, endorsed Obama.

Said the Tampa editorial board: "This is not the time to reverse course and return to the failed policies of the past. Without hesitation, the Tampa Bay Times recommends Barack Obama for re-election as president."

Several other Florida papers that endorsed Obama in 2008, including the Miami Herald, have not endorsed any candidates.

Colorado's main daily, the Denver Post, and North Carolina's paper of record, the Charlotte Observer, also gave Obama their approval.

>> In red-state Arizona, with its famously conservative immigration laws, the main broadsheet, the Arizona Republic, is pro-Romney. But Obama got an endorsement from the smaller Arizona Daily Star.

>> The Los Angeles Times endorsed Obama on Monday.

Newspapers in Iowa, Virginia and Wisconsin — states critical for a victory in the increasingly close election — have not yet made endorsements. 

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