Newt Gingrich: Union Leader endorsement a big boost in New Hampshire (The Christian Science Monitor)

Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign just got a big boost in New Hampshire – the state holding the first Republican primary election.

The Union Leader, the state’s most prominent publication and a leading voice in conservatism, says it’s backing Gingrich over Mitt Romney.

Romney, who holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire polling, is still the man to beat there. But the Union Leader’s rejection of his candidacy is a blow nonetheless – particularly since Gingrich has vaulted past his GOP rivals to claim neck-and-neck status with Romney in national Republican polls as well as likely-voter surveys in other states.

RECOMMENDED: Election 101 - Ten questions about Newt Gingrich as a presidential candidate

The newspaper’s endorsement – spread across the top of the front page in the Sunday edition and signed by publisher Joseph W. McQuaid – carries a granite-like tone typical of a publication prominent in Republican politics. Four years ago, its endorsement of John McCain helped propel McCain passed Romney to a win in New Hampshire and to his party’s nomination.

"We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing," the newspaper wrote in its editorial.

"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers,” the paper declared in obvious reference to Romney. “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.”

"We don't have to agree with them on every issue," the newspaper wrote about Gingrich, some of whose positions (on immigration, for example) have rankled conservatives. "We would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear."

Writes Maggie Haberman at Politico.com: “It's the most significant and impactful endorsement in the GOP race so far, and solidifies Gingrich's standing as the alternative to Romney as the race heads into the final pre-Iowa caucuses stretch.”

While the Union Leader’s endorsement shakes things up, Romney remains the clear front-runner in New Hampshire, a state where he owns a home and where he’s well-known because of his time as governor of neighboring Massachusetts.

The WMUR-University of New Hampshire Granite State poll last week showed Romney with 42 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire. Gingrich came in second with 15 percent, followed by Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 12 percent, and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman with 8 percent support.

Gingrich’s campaign nearly crashed and burned earlier this year when most of his staff quit in protest of what they saw as his lack of on-the-ground campaigning. And the former House Speaker’s effort has been dinged by reports of lucrative consulting work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac and the health care industry, his and his wife’s $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany’s, and continuing mention of his three marriages and acknowledged adultery.

But his campaign has regained strength and momentum – particularly in the critical state of New Hampshire.

Associated Press political writer Philip Elliott reports that Gingrich hired tea party leader Andrew Hemingway to lead his efforts, and his team has been contacting almost 1,000 voters a day.

“Hemingway's team of eight paid staffers in New Hampshire has been adding more than 100 volunteers each day, campaign officials said,” Elliott writes. “Gingrich's team already has lined up leaders in the major cities and has started identifying representatives in each ward in the state. Gingrich also has opened three offices in New Hampshire – in Manchester, the state's biggest city; in Dover in the eastern part of the state; and in the North Country's Littleton – and plans two more.”

The Union Leader’s endorsement by no means ensures success.

In 1999, the statewide newspaper endorsed Steve Forbes over George W. Bush (who publisher McQuaid referred to as “an empty suit”). Still, the newspaper’s backing carries significant weight, and not just in its formal endorsement.

"The Union Leader's style is we don't just endorse once," McQuaid told The Washington Post in 1999. "We endorse every damn day. We started endorsing Reagan in 1975 and never stopped."

RECOMMENDED: Election 101 - Ten questions about Newt Gingrich as a presidential candidate

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Eurozone gets ECB boost, summit deal uncertain (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/ROME (Reuters) – The incoming head of the European Central Bank threw the euro zone a lifeline hours before a crucial summit on Wednesday which looked set to fall short of a definitive plan to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

Mario Draghi signaled the ECB would go on buying troubled states' bonds as leaders of the 17-nation single currency area struggled to agree a convincing set of measures.

"The Eurosystem (of central banks) is determined, with its non-conventional measures, to prevent malfunctioning in the money and financial markets creating an obstacle to monetary transmission," he said in typically coded ECB language in a speech text released in Rome.

Draghi, who will succeed Jean-Claude Trichet on November 1, made clear that measures could only be a temporary expedient and said it was up to governments to tackle the roots of the debt crisis that began in Greece two years ago.

However, his statement appeared to rebuff pressure from Germany's powerful Bundesbank for the ECB to end the bond-buying program which prompted the resignation of the two most senior German ECB policymakers this year.

The second euro zone summit in four days, due to start at 1730 GMT, seems unlikely to produce a detailed masterplan despite Franco-German assurances that a "comprehensive solution" to two years of debt turmoil would be found.

Bank of Canada chief Mark Carney said he had received guidance that "that there will need to be subsequent meetings to provide more detail."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged decisive action now.

"We need a real solution, we won't buy anything with mediocre compromises," he told reporters upon his arrival in Brussels. "We are in this job to take decisions. It's not easy, but it really has to happen."

Greek debt needed to be made sustainable, the bloc's rescue fund must be made strong enough to convince markets and Europe's banks had to be shepherded through "this difficult phase," Rutte said.

The leaders may agree on broad outlines but leave crucial details, including the numbers on a Greek debt write-down and on funds available for financial fire-fighting, for later negotiation among finance ministers.

A European Commission spokesman said there would not be detailed numbers on all aspects of the political agreement.

While there is consensus on the need for European banks to raise around 110 billion euros ($150 billion) in extra capital to withstand a potential Greek debt default and wider financial contagion, two other critical parts of the plan remain unclear.

Governments and banks are still haggling over the scale of write-offs private bondholders will have to take on their Greek debt holdings, sources familiar with the negotiations said.

"There will be give and take with the banks until the last minute," a Greek government source involved in the Brussels negotiations said. "As far as now, the talks are going on."

Uncertainties also remain around complex plans to scale up the region's 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, without allowing it to draw on the ECB.

Investors stayed cautious, with the euro surrendering earlier gains and inching higher against the dollar and European shares flat on the day.

50 PERCENT "HAIRCUT?"

One proposal set to be adopted involves creating a special purpose investment vehicle (SPIV) to tap foreign sovereign and private investors, such as Chinese and Middle Eastern wealth funds, to buy bonds of troubled euro zone countries.

The EFSF said its chief, Klaus Regling, would visit China to meet with investors on Friday.

But Chinese and European officials said there was no word yet on whether Beijing, which holds AAA-rated EFSF bonds and an estimated 600 billion euros in euro-denominated debt, would also put money into the SPIV.

The other proposed method for scaling up the EFSF involves using it to offer partial guarantees to purchasers of new euro zone debt. The two options may be used in combination.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a parliamentary vote of support for strengthening the rescue fund after warning in a dramatic speech that Europe was facing its most difficult situation since the end of World War Two.

"If the euro fails, then Europe fails," she declared, saying there was no certainty that the continent would then enjoy another 60 years of peace.

Merkel earlier told parliament that private bondholders would have to take a substantial write-down so that Greece's debt could be reduced to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 from 160 percent this year.

Experts say that implies a 50 percent "haircut" for private investors, which Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was reported to have told Greek banks was the most likely outcome.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, forecast an eventual deal on a 50 percent write-off but officials said it might not be sealed on Wednesday and the banks wanted a menu of options for the bond swap rather than a single solution.

European leaders' pattern of responding too little, too late has spawned a wider economic and political crisis that threatens to undermine the euro single currency and the European Union project.

EU sources said detailed figures may not materialize until November 7-8, when EU and euro zone finance ministers hold their next regular meeting.

LETTER OF INTENT

Also weighing on the summit was deep concern about Italy, which is now in the bond market firing line.

Rome's inability to deliver a substantive plan for reforming its pensions system has raised doubts about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's seriousness in tackling a crisis that threatens the euro zone's third largest economy.

Berlusconi was bringing to Brussels a "letter of intent" to his European partners on long awaited reforms, aides said, after his government nearly collapsed on Tuesday over their demands that Rome fulfill a pledge to raise the retirement age.

The letter was expected to contain only vague promises of economic reform rather than the firm undertakings sought by exasperated EU leaders in return for support for Italy's bonds.

Italy has the euro zone's largest sovereign bond market, with a public debt of 1.8 trillion euros, 120 percent of GDP. If it went the same way as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the rescue fund does not have enough money to bail Rome out.

Draghi's statement appeared to supersede a dispute between Germany and France over how the ECB, the ultimate defender of the euro, should be involved in trying to resolve the crisis.

Paris had wanted the summit to endorse a continuation of the ECB's "non-standard measures" as long as Europe faces exceptional circumstances.

Merkel said Germany opposed a line in the draft summit conclusions urging the ECB to continue these measures. A euro zone source said the phrase would be dropped.

(Additional reporting by Annika Breidthardt and Sarah Marsh in Berlin, Daniel Flynn and Harry Papachristou in Athens, Barry Moody in Rome; Writing by Luke Baker and Mike Peacock; editing by Janet McBride)

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President announces deal to boost fuel economy (AP)

By DINA CAPPIELLO and TOM KRISHER, Associated Press Writers Dina Cappiello And Tom Krisher, Associated Press Writers – 2?hrs?7?mins?ago

WASHINGTON – Ushering in the largest decrease in auto fuel consumption since the 1970s, President Barack Obama and automobile manufacturers Friday announced a deal that will save drivers money at the pump and dramatically cut heat-trapping gases coming from tailpipes.

The agreement pledges to double overall fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, bringing major under-the-hood changes for the nation's automobiles starting in model year 2017. Cars and trucks on the road today average 27 miles per gallon.

"This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we have taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said, sharing the stage with top executives of the major auto makers before a backdrop of some of the most cutting-edge cars on the road.

"Just as cars will go further on a gallon of gas, our economy will go further on a barrel of oil," Obama said.

When achieved, the 54.5 mile-per-gallon target will reduce U.S. oil consumption from vehicles by 40 percent and halve the amount of greenhouse gas pollution coming out of exhausts.

For American families, the president said the agreement — which will be subject to a mid-course review — means filling up the car every two weeks, instead of every week. That would save $8,000 in fuel costs over the life of a vehicle, he said.

The deal was less than what environmentalists and public health advocates wanted, but more than the Detroit Three automakers desired. In a letter to the president last week, Michigan lawmakers called the higher proposal "overly aggressive," after automakers had said they'd work to get vehicles averaging 42.6 to 46.7 miles per gallon. Green groups, meanwhile, had pushed for a 62 miles-per-gallon target by 2025.

For Obama, who watched his campaign promise on this issue die when Republicans retook control of the House, the compromise provides a way around political roadblocks and offers an opportunity to affect climate change.

The deal also provides an answer on the issue of oil dependency. It promises reduced demand at a time when Republicans in Congress have criticized Obama for being too slow to drill and not opening up more areas to oil and gas exploration after the massive Gulf oil spill last year.

And at a time when a consensus in Congress is elusive on the debt ceiling and curbing the federal deficit, the president said the fuel economy deal was a "valuable lesson to" Washington.

"You are all demonstrating what can happen when people put aside differences," Obama said. "These folks are competitors, you've got labor and business. But they said we are going to work together to achieve something important and lasting for the country."

For automobile manufacturers, particularly the Detroit Three, the deal signals a turnaround from the days when they resisted boosting fuel economy targets, arguing that consumers would not buy smaller and more efficient cars, and the technology to reduce fuel dependency was too expensive.

The dynamics were also changed by the $62 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler by taxpayers, making it harder for automakers to say no to the White House.

Some environmentalists lauded the agreement Friday, but said that manufacturers owed taxpayers a bigger deal after the multibillion-dollar bailout.

"An auto industry that owes its survival to taxpayer bailouts ungratefully flouted the public's demand for fuel efficiency and less pollution, fighting for loopholes until the bitter end," said Dan Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign. "We will use every opportunity, including the midterm review that the automakers demanded, to strengthen the standards."

For consumers, the new requirements are well beyond the gas mileage of all but the most efficient cars on the road today.

By the time the new standards take effect, the government expects gas-electric hybrids to make up about half the lineup of new vehicles, with electric vehicles making up about 10 percent of the fleet.

Currently hybrid and electric vehicles combined amount to less than 3 percent of U.S. vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

The standards also could force auto companies to get rid of some less-efficient models as they try to boost the gas mileage of their lineups. But that depends on how quickly new technology can be developed.

Automakers already are moving toward boosting gas mileage by cutting weight and with new engine and transmission breakthroughs. They're also adding electric cars to their lineups. General Motors and Nissan are selling mass-market electric vehicles, while Mitsubishi, Ford, Toyota and others are about to enter the market.

Nissan's vice president Scott Becker in a statement said the Obama administration has issued some extremely challenging greenhouse gas reduction and fuel economy improvement targets, but Nissan was "up to the task."

Nissan introduced the LEAF - the world's first and only 100-percent electric car for the mass market - in December 2010. More than 4,000 of the 99 miles-per-gallon vehicles are already on the road.

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Krisher contributed reporting from Detroit

Follow Dina Cappiello on Twitter: (at)dinacappiello

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