A Laurel to the Toledo Blade

There’s a well-known truism that you can’t have it both ways. But that’s never stopped politicians, especially in the heat of a presidential campaign, from giving it a go. And when they do, it’s the job of the press to call them out.

That’s just what The Blade of Toledo did this week, when GOP candidate Mitt Romney made a stop at a Toledo manufacturing plant. The article, by Tony Cook with contributions from Jim Provance, the paper’s Columbus bureau chief, notes that the Romney campaign selected the home of steel distributor Universal Metals as the site for a stump speech about job creation. It was a logical choice: after all, Romney has begun to sharpen his message on the importance of manufacturing, with an eye to the Ohio primary. But the article also immediately points out an incongruity in Romney’s choice of venue: Universal Metals has benefited heavily from the federal government’s bailout of the auto industry, which Romney opposed.