President Obama
President ObamaReuters

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter dismissed the Des Moines Register endorsement of Mitt Romney, saying it was not “based at all in reality.”

“They endorsed Mitt Romney in the primary, so this was not much of a surprise,” said Cutter on ABC’s “This Week”, referring to the influential swing-state paper’s backing of the GOP candidate.

“It was a little surprising to read that editorial, because it didn't seem to be based at all in reality, not just in the president's record, but in Mitt Romney's record,” Cutter added. “It says that he'd reach across the aisle, which he'd do the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite of what he did in Massachusetts.”

Romney on late Saturday received the endorsement of the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest newspaper. 

The paper, which had backed Obama in 2008, had not endorsed a Republican nominee in 40 years. The endorsement will likely bolster Romney’s efforts to win Iowa’s six electoral votes.

Cutter claimed the Register was wrong in its description of Romney as a centrist who will be more likely than Obama to forge bipartisan compromises on the economy and federal deficits.

“Over the course of running for president over this last six years, he's never once stood up to the far extreme right wing,” Cutter said, referring to the controversy over Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s recent comments on abortion and rape.  “Just this past week we saw it, when he wouldn't take down his ad for Richard Mourdock, who had -- you know, it's a now famous comment that it's God's will if a woman gets pregnant through rape. He's not willing to stand up when it matters.”

Cutter nonetheless touted the administration’s endorsement from other newspapers and said the campaign felt confident in its position as the presidential race comes to an end.

“There is momentum. There is movement out there with people wanting a second term of an Obama presidency. We feel good about where we are,” she said.