Des Moines Register editor: Romney can ‘bridge’ partisan divide

The editor of the Des Moines Register said his paper endorsed Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination over the weekend in part because the other candidates would contribute to the partisan gridlock that currently grips Washington.

Speaking Monday on CNN’s “American Morning,” Rick Green said that some of the candidates have moved too far to the right.

{mosads}“What we’ve seen throughout this entire campaign is that these candidates have really tried to jockey and one-up each other, if you will — who can wield the biggest wrecking ball in Washington?” Green said. “Romney has shown to us … if he goes to Washington, he’ll try to ignore the R’s and D’s and try to focus on how do you bridge this great divide that I think is affecting Washington and I think is going on throughout the entire country, including Iowa.”

Romney has consistently been criticized by conservatives for being too centrist, or even liberal, but for once this seems to have been an asset in helping him secure the Des Moines Register endorsement that eluded him in 2008.

Another area in which the former Massachusetts governor has been criticized is as a “flip-flopper,” but here, too, Green parlayed that criticism into an asset.

“He has morphed himself, transforming from an independent candidate to a moderate Republican … to a proud conservative,” Green said. “I think throughout that transformation he has taken a very close perspective of the issues … and in some cases he’s adjusted it.

“He’s acknowledged that he’s made some mistakes in the communication of it, but what we thought was very refreshing is you have a candidate that acknowledged the different positions at different times in response to some of the things that are unfolding in this country,” Green continued. “I think that showed some maturity.”

The Iowa paper endorsed John McCain in the 2008 GOP primary, although it endorsed then-candidate Barack Obama in the general election. The paper’s 2012 editorial cited “a different field” from 2008 and said that Romney has “matured as a candidate.”