The Patriot-News' centrist political writer in swing-state Pennsylvania publicly declares his presidential choice: "Romney has emerged as a viable alternative with a
greater capacity to get a reluctant Congress to act. That ability is
critical to America’s success in the next four years and beyond. It
seems the old moderate Mitt who revered his father — a passionate
progressive who failed in his own presidential bid — is more inclined to
govern in the tradition of presidents who inhabited the office without
particular ideological objectives or arbitrary agendas. His
detached-but-respectable record as a governor of a state with a mega
majority Democratic legislature suggests he is more likely to be the
moderate president the nation needs to bring political factions together
than the fire-breathing 'severely conservative' candidate he contorted
himself into to get the GOP nomination. Romney has been
deceptive and dishonest in his campaign, but he has been no less
disappointing than the Washington neophyte in the White House who
promised a bipartisan nirvana four years ago and failed to deliver."
More: "At
a time of great economic despair and a shortsighted Congress, Romney’s
election would be better for the nation than Obama’s return. His private
equity background should calm the nation’s business community. His role
as party leader should loosen the tribalistic gridlock that set in
after Obama abandoned bipartisanship. And his tenure as a chief
executive of a relevant state will return a sense of experienced
stewardship to the capital. Granted, there is plenty to differ
with Romney about. But placing the nation’s long-term interests ahead of
a short-term comfort zone, I am compelled to cast a ballot that might
cost America a social limb, but salvages its fiscal life."
Robert Vickers Commentary: Why I'm Voting For Mitt Romney
