Iowa's Sioux City Journal has endorsed Mitt Romney for president.
The endorsement touts Romney's strength on financial issues, claiming that he would be the best candidate to help navigate America through tough economic times.
The newspaper also endorsed Romney in 2008 — and "since then," the editorial states, "the nation's challenges - in particular, its domestic economic challenges - have grown still more acute.
"Within this year's Republican presidential field," it continues, "Romney again stands out as the candidate who is best prepared through experience, skills and qualities to lead the country. Today the Journal endorses the businessman, former Massachusetts governor and former Winter Olympics CEO in the Jan. 3 caucuses."
The editorial criticizes Washington for being "incapable of engaging in the compromises and making the difficult choices necessary to turn our economic ship before it strikes the iceberg," and suggests that Romney would be different:
"Through successful, executive decision-making experience in both the private and public sectors, Romney understands economics and fiscal principles in a real-world way. In other words, he's walked the walk. In this year's Republican field, he is the candidate most capable of not only articulating a blueprint for a stronger economy and the restoration of fiscal sanity in Washington, but of assembling a high-caliber team of advisors, forging consensus within Congress and rallying the nation in support of it."
It also praises Romney's personal affect, noting that, "like the popular Ronald Reagan, Romney combines a pragmatic conservatism with confidence (not arrogance) and an easy, comfortable style and manner, even charm." Such praise is unusual for Romney, who has often struggled to connect with everyday voters.
Romney trails Newt Gingrich in the latest Iowa polls, and his campaign has long centered around winning the New Hampshire primary on January 10. But his campaign has recently ramped up its organization in the Hawkeye State. The Des Moines Register, Iowa's most influential newspaper, has not yet weighed in with its endorsement.
The City Journal's decision comes a week after New Hampshire's Union Leader gave Newt Gingrich a boost with its endorsement of the former House Speaker.
You can read the entire Sioux City Journal editorial here.