Detroit Free Press Endorses Romney February 23, 2012, 10:32 am The Detroit Free Press on Thursday endorsed Mitt Romney, bit did so while chiding him for his opposition to granting federal aid to automakers during the financial crisis: Romney was also dead wrong when he opposed government bailouts for the auto industry (Michigan's most vital economic engine) in late 2008. And he has since adopted a recalcitrant and, at times, revisionist defense of his position in the face of overwhelming evidence that the bailouts he opposed were necessary. In endorsing him five days before the Michigan primary, the Free Press said, "His record and history - his term as governor of Massachusetts, his rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, even his time as a venture capitalist and management consultant - make him far more qualified to represent the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential race than the other candidates."