Liberal New Hampshire Newspaper Slams Romney

The Concord Monitor, a liberal New Hampshire newspaper, ran an editorial on Sunday headlined "Romney Should Not Be The Next President."

The newspaper, calls Romney "a disquieting figure" who "most surely must be stopped:"

If you followed only his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues and an ability to work well with Democrats. If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core.

the Romney Campaign responded to the Monitor anti-endorsement:

The Monitor's editorial board is regarded as a liberal one on many issues, so it is not surprising that they would criticize Governor Romney for his conservative views and platform.

Governor Romney has taken firm positions that are at odds with the board's support for drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, their position against school choice and their advocacy for taking "Under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance. The governor happens to disagree with the editorial board on all those issues, as do most Republicans in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Union Leader, which has endorsed John McCain, joined in the Romney bashing today, saying Romney lacks McCain's conviction:

There is a reason Mitt Romney has not received a single newspaper endorsement in New Hampshire. It's the same reason his poll numbers are dropping. He has not been able to convince the people of this state that he's the conservative he says he is.

[. . .]

Voters can see that John McCain is trustworthy. Mitt Romney has spent a year trying to convince Granite Staters that he is as well. It looks like they aren't buying it. And for good reason.

Romney's metamorphosis on certain issues doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others. I strongly disagree with McCain on a number of issues, such as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform, the twice failed McCain-Kennedy immigration reform, and McCain's failure to support President Bush's tax cuts, I do admire the fact that he stands behind his convictions. What is More important, as a security voter, I appreciate McCain's steadfast support for the war.