The Obama Endorsements Keep Rolling In; 10 Major Newpapers Have Made Their Choice Thus Far With More On The Way...

With a little more than two weeks to go before the November 6th election, major newspapers from around the country are starting to announce their endorsements for this year's presidential race.

The Akron Beacon Journal, the Denver Post, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Asheville Citizen-Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, The Sacramento Bee, The Arkansas Times , The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and The Salt Lake Tribune have all endorsed President Obama for re-election thus far with more to come.

Here's what some of these prestigious newspapers had to say aboubt their choice:

"What is telling about a presidency is its tilt, its direction, spirit and priorities. Thus, to those who argue the president lacks a plan for a second term: Look at the foundation that has been set. He has used the levers of government to bolster the economy, investing in education, innovation and health care, understanding the essential role of the public sector in competitiveness. Those tasks are not complete. They would continue.

"The president has governed more from the middle than many give him credit. Consider the Republican ideas in health-care reform, or the Race to the Top, or the tax cuts in the stimulus. He has stated his readiness to compromise on long-term deficit reduction. The problem has been Republican resistance to tax increases as part of a realistic and responsible approach.

"That commitment to compromise, or governing, is crucial to addressing other pressing challenges such as illegal immigration and climate change. It has been present in his nominations to the Supreme Court, tapping those who recognize the value of settled law in areas ranging from the Commerce Clause to the rights of women to make choices about their health care." - The Akron Beacon Journel

"A largely intransigent Republican Party shares in the blame, however, particularly because of unwillingness to cede any ground to Obama in the last two years on policies — such as the president's American Jobs Act — that attempt to bolster the economy.

And though there is much in Mitt Romney's résumé to suggest he is a capable problem-solver, the Republican nominee has not presented himself as a leader who will bring his party closer to the center at a time when that is what this country needs.

His comments on the 47 percent of Americans who refuse to "take personal responsibility and care for their lives" were a telling insight into his views and a low point of the campaign.

Obama, on the other hand, has shown throughout his term that he is a steady leader who keeps the interests of a broad array of Americans in mind.
We urge Coloradans to re-elect him to a second term." - The Denver Post

"President Barack Obama has earned four more years.

"He inherited an unholy mess — an economy teetering on the edge of a second Great Depression and two foreign wars top the list of disasters. Slowly, steadily and with his eye fixed firmly on the needs of the country, the president has worked hard every day to improve our collective good. It was President Obama who bailed out the auto industry, salvaging 1.1 million jobs and keeping manufacturing alive in this country. It was President Obama who made the gutsy call to invade a compound in Pakistan, tracking down and killing Osama bin Laden. It was President Obama who finally signed comprehensive health reform so that no American has to fear bankruptcy because of a medical catastrophe. More work remains for a second term."- The Santa Fe New Mexican 

"With Obama, we know what we are getting. He has consistently embraced the concept of community. Obama believes we are not just a bunch of individuals but a nation, and that we must work together to address the challenges we face." - The Asheville Citizen-Times

"It was at what Romney thought was a private Republican gathering that he made his now-famous statement that 47 percent of the American people aren't worth doodley squat. After a video turned up on the Internet, Romney eventually made a sort of weaselly defense — "taken out of context," etc. — but it was so insincere that nobody bought it. He wasn't sorry for what he said; he was sorry he got caught. He's not sorry for shipping American jobs to China as a private financial manipulator either. He's sorry that Obama points it out. While Romney was exporting employment, President Obama's stimulus spending was creating and preserving jobs — as many as 3.6 million, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. A substantial number, though not enough to replace the jobs lost in the economic collapse that began under President George W. Bush, who believed, like Romney, in the efficacy of reducing taxes on the very rich, even if that means raising taxes on everybody else.

"Americans are divided already; Obama at least wants to try to bring them together. The gap would widen under the elitist Romney, and even if he ever felt inclined to cease the class warfare and gender warfare his party wages, the party wouldn't let him. The choice this year is between a level-headed, well-intentioned, middle-of-the-roader and a political adventurer dominated by really nasty reactionaries. An easy choice, we believe." - The Arkansas Times

So far I've found just 5 papers that have endorsed Mitt Romney, all from Republican or right-leaning publications; The Dallas Morning News, Las Vegas Review-Journal,Omaha World-Herald, The Tennessean (Nashville) and the Orlando Sentinel.

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UPDATE - Make that 11 major newspapers to endorse a second term for President Obama. The L.A. Times can be added to the list as well.

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UPDATE - The Charlotte Observer, North Carolina's largest newspaper, endorsed Barack Obama for another term in today's edition.