Late last week, the Concord Monitor published a scathing anti-endorsement of Mitt Romney. In a rather expected response, the Romney camp labeled the Monitor as a liberal, terrorist-supporting rag (not really, but words to that effect). It’s hard to paint the Manchester Union-Leader with that broad brush, though.

For all intents and purposes, the Union-Leader is the paper of record in New Hampshire. And, the editorial board of the paper has always appeared to have a conservative slant (they endorsed John McCain in early December).

So, when they can’t recommend Romney over McCain (and in essence, call Romney a pandering liar), well, it would seem all but over for Mitt’s run, since Romney has staked everything in the early primaries of Iowa and NH.

Here’s a snip from the Union-Leader’s anti-endorsement of Romney:

…In this primary, the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes. That is why Granite Staters who have listened attentively are now returning to John McCain. They might not agree with McCain on everything, as we don’t, but like us, they judge him to be a man of integrity and conviction, a man who won’t sell them out, who won’t break his promises, and who won’t lie to get elected.

Voters can see that John McCain is trustworthy. Mitt Romney has spent a year trying to convince Granite Staters that he is as well. It looks like they aren’t buying it. And for good reason…

Ouch.