By Jákup Justinussen
Largest newspaper in Iowa, the Des Moines Register, shifts its allegiance to supporting Republicans after endorsing Democrat presidential candidates for 40 years.
Mitt Romney had his last stop in Iowa this morning before Election Day in an airport hangar in Des Moines, Iowa, firing up a crowd of 4,000 supporters.
“A special shout-out to the Des-Moines Register,” Romney called out from the podium. “Thank you for your endorsement!”
The endorsement was announced by the local newspaper’s editorial board a week prior to this morning’s rally, claiming that Romney offers a fresh economic vision.
Iowa is one of the swing-states, crucial to both candidates to conquer in order to claim presidential victory. The state has six electoral votes, and the last poll by the Des Moines Register shows Obama leading by 5 percentage points.
The Des Moines Register has a circulation of around 100,000 newspapers daily and 200,000 Sunday editions.
Biased media coverage is not an unknown phenomenon in the US, with major networks such as Fox News and MSNBC leaning significantly to the right and left, respectively.
After his rally in Iowa, Romney continued his Sunday campaigning in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.