Here is a sampling of some of our favorite letters  to the Des Moines Register after the editorial board inexplicably endorsed Mitt.  For many, the loss is not simply that they don’t agree; it’s about the last dying breath of the paper they knew and loved.   click here to read them all

For forty-five years I was a loyal reader of the Des Moines Register. Earlier this spring I was forced to cancel my subscription due to the horrendous delivery service in western Iowa. Until today, I continued to buy the Sunday Register. However, now that your editorial staff has endorsed Mitt Romney, that too will have to change. I can only say two things—1) I was heartened by Rekha Basu’s column supporting President Obama, and 2) I was glad to see that my favorite writer, Richard Doak, a man of wisdom and repute, was not part of your unbelievable vetting process. You seem certain that Romney will not “adopt the reactionary agenda of the most extreme elements of the Republican Party.” Good luck with that. I see a man who will say anything to secure the party nomination, say the total opposite to sway the undecided voters, and will do everything in his power to please the money people behind him who are buying this election. Shame on the Des Moines Register. You can now change your motto to “The Newspaper Iowa Can’t Depend On.”
– Jean Conover, Mapleton

I should have seen it coming. You printed all those Obama-bashing Ramirez cartoons. You threw Leonard Boswell under the bus. You haven’t replaced Donald Kaul with anyone to balance John Carlson’s rightwing blather. You ran full-page ads from AP Superpac and Billy Graham, and a 12-page Romney glossy flyer in today’s paper. Rekha Basu is the only progressive voice left in your once-magnificent but now dwindling daily. Romney, with his shifting convictions and outright lies, has spent six years and tens of millions of his own money buying the election, promising little more than a repeat of the Bush years, and the Register has bought into it. I can only hope you’re wrong again.

– Harold A. Swihart, Des Moines

I woke up this morning and got my Register off the front porch. I got to the Opinion section and thought I had gotten the wrong paper. I thought it must be the April Fool’s edition of the Daily Iowan student newspaper. But it was not, much to my dismay. Adults who should know better were responsible for this endorsement.

“Mitt Romney Offers a Fresh Economic Vision”? No way.

– James Conzemius, Iowa City

With full page ads from American Principles Superpac lining the Register’s pockets with megacash time and time again, it is no wonder that Ms. Hollingsworth, Publisher, and editorial crew have endorsed Willard Romney. The lies and money from this PAC are more than persuasive, distort truths, and muddle clear vision. Oh well, the last time the Register endorsed a Republican (Nixon), he had to resign as President in disgrace as a criminal. Can we now forgive the editors and publisher for lack of vision clouded by megabucks? and continue

– Jim Johnson, Saint Charles

Who on the Register actually wrote the editorial endorsing Mitt Romney and his Etch-a-Sketch? Was it Daddy Warbucks or Mr. Magoo?

– Tom Emmerson, Ames

The Salt Lake City Tribune endorses Obama, because it knows who Romney is; the Register endorses Romney, because it doesn’t know who he is.

– James Sutton, Des Moines

Shame! You have thrown in with the anti-science flat earthers: Anti stem cell, anti choice, anti climate change, anti evolution.

A bunch of complete freaking dolts. The horror.

– Jim Leonard, Iowa City

ROMNEY?? YOU’VE NOW LOST ALL CREDIBILITY IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD!!!

– Dr Robert Coates, Mason City

You seem to give your endorsement to Romney because of his record as the Gov. of MA. Surely you’ve read that after his term, MA had fallen to 47th place in job creation, that he had given tax breaks to the wealthiest, increased college costs, and lost manufacturing jobs at twice the national average. You also seem to not find a problem with him reversing his positions throughout the campaign to the point of not knowing WHAT he stands for, nor has he explained how he intends to magically make all his promises happen. I’m shocked by the argument you make to the point of thinking that I can no longer trust your information about state news and opinions. Please cancel my/our subscription to the Des Moines Register.

– Slonneger, Mary/Ken, Iowa City

I’m not surprised with the Des Moines Register endorsement of Romney & Latham. The Register endorsed Hoover against FDR in 1932,also Nixon against JFK in 1960.
– John Navin, West Des Moines

Good job endorsing a man who’s entire professional career consists of outsourcing American jobs to china! Are you aware of what he did with A.C. Delco? First pirating the company that was not intended to be sold to him then closing twenty four plants in the U.S. and shipping the jobs to china! He made fifteen million dollars on this deal on the backs of U.S. tax payers and put the money in a well known tax shelter in the jersey islands off the coast of France! Is this your definition of a quote “refreshing economic policy for America”?! Great insight register! I and all of my family members are ending our subscriptions to your gossip rag forthwith! A failure on the part or this establishment! Goodbye to your credibility as a unbiased news organization!

– David Youngberg, Oskaloosa

Premonition turned into sad reality

I had a sinking suspicion that The Des Moines Register would endorse Mitt Romney when I saw the pictures you choose to print in the front page leading up to this STRANGE decision. If Mitt Romney is to be our best chance to reach across the aisle why did he choose Paul Ryan as a running mate? (I am an independent by the way.) Mitt Romney knows how to make lots of money for himself through a private equity firm while lots of little guys loose their jobs – how does this translate to an ability to help the middle class make money? When Mitt Romney scoffs at the notion of global warming I get REALLY scared. Barack Obama has the backs of the middle class and he has done his best to promote renewable energy – he is the man for a lasting future.

– Lisa Bean, Waukee