The Columbus Dispatch relied on cherry-picked economic data to endorse Mitt Romney for president, painting a distorted picture of the Ohio economy and ignoring Romney's opposition to the successful rescue of the auto industry.

In its October 21 endorsement, the Dispatch wrote:

After nearly four years of economic stagnation, massive unemployment, record-setting debt and government intrusions into the economy that have paralyzed the private sector, the United States needs a new direction. For this reason, The Dispatch urges voters to choose Republican Mitt Romney for president in the Nov. 6 election.

The Dispatch backed up its endorsement by distorting a key economic indicator: the unemployment rate. Specifically, the endorsement cited the right-wing canard that the national unemployment rate was “above 8 percent for 43 of the past 44 months.” This masks the fact that the national unemployment rate has been dramatically falling for the past year, part of a broader 2-year decline that has brought the unemployment rate to its lowest level since Obama took office.

And the Dispatch, one of the largest newspapers in Ohio, made no mention of how the Ohio economy has fared under Obama.

In fact, the unemployment situation in Ohio completely undermines the Dispatch argument that Obama's economic stewardship has failed Ohioans. The Ohio unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in January 2009, when Obama took office. The current unemployment rate in the state is 7 percent. The unemployment rate in Ohio is almost 20 percent lower since Obama took office. This is part of a larger trend: the unemployment rate dropped in 41 states in September.

The Dispatch also defended its endorsement by touting what it described as Romney's “wealth of executive experience in the private sector and the public sector,” arguing that “Romney's adult life has been spent turning around troubled private and public institutions.”

But in championing Romney's business experience, the Dispatch made no mention of the successful auto rescue that Obama oversaw and Romney vociferously opposed.

Romney has gone to great lengths to hide his opposition to the auto rescue, dishonestly claiming that he supported the same managed bankruptcy that the Obama administration used to rescue the auto industry in 2009. In reality, Romney's position would have deprived GM and Chrysler of the money needed to get through bankruptcy, and likely would have led to the auto companies being forced into liquidation.

The auto industry accounts for 850,000 jobs in Ohio. It's journalistic malpractice for the Dispatch to ignore the auto rescue while defending Romney's record investing in struggling companies.