The influential New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper has endorsed Newt Gingrich as the Republican party's presidential candidate, snubbing favourite Mitt Romney six weeks before voters in the state cast their ballots in one of the first Republican primaries.
"We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing," the state's largest newspaper wrote in a Sunday editorial which promoted Gingrich while delivering Romney a discreet rebuke.
"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers. We look for conservatives of courage and conviction who are independent-minded, grounded in their core beliefs about this nation and its people, and best equipped for the job," the newspaper said. » | Associated Press | Sunday, November 27, 2011
