With the Michigan Republican presidential primary looming on Tuesday, the race between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney continues to get nasty in the Great Lakes State -- and the Democrat incumbent has even jumped in the fray.
A poll released on Thursday showed the battle remains close. Romney, whose father was governor of the state during the 1960s, won the Michigan Republican primary by 9 percent over John McCain in 2008, but polls from last week showed him losing the state to Santorum. The polls have been tighter this week and the one released on Thursday finds Santorum with a small lead there over Romney.
Santorum leads the American Research Group poll of likely primary voters with 38 percent, followed by Romney with 34 percent. Ron Paul places third with 12 percent while Newt Gingrich lags in single digits with 7 percent. The race is still up for grabs, as 8 percent are undecided while 1 percent back other candidates
The poll of 600 likely Michigan Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 21-22 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Santorum unleashed a new ad attacking Romney on Thursday. The ad features a host of quotes from Romney in which the former governor of Massachusetts said he would support legalized abortion and opposed the NRA on gun control. Santorum is contrasted with Romney as a trusted conservative.
Hogan Gidley, a spokesman for Santorum, weighed in on the ad on Thursday.
"Since Mitt Romney refuses to talk about his own liberal record, we figured we'd show people what Mitt Romney says about Mitt Romney, said Gidley. We wanted to give Governor Romney's long-held positions and statements an opportunity to be heard.
Gail Gitcho, a spokeswoman for Romney, fired back, noting that Santorum said he took one for the team by backing No Child Left Behind.
As pitchers and catchers report for spring training, Rick Santorum eloquently reminded us last night that he reported to the team in Washington for a long time, said Gitcho.
But a new player entered the Michigan Republican primary battle on Thursday -- President Barack Obama.
The Democrat incumbent is hitting the airwaves -- and the Republican presidential hopefuls -- in a new ad airing in the Great Lakes State. In the ad, Obama takes jabs at both of the leading Republican hopefuls -- but Romney draws a little more fire, as the ad includes a quote from Romney reading let Detroit go bankrupt. Romney generally does better against Obama than Santorum in general election match-ups.
The Romney camp quickly fired back at Obama on Thursday.
The last thing President Obama and his team want to do is face Mitt Romney in the general election," said Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman for Romney. Their factually false television ad proves they are more focused on Mitt Romney than they are on getting Michiganders back to work. President Obama is desperate to hold onto power.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
