With the Michigan primary looming on Feb. 28, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is looking to get back in the game in the Great Lakes State and catch Rick Santorum there.
Michigan should be friendly territory for Romney. He won the primary there in 2008, beating John McCain by 9 percent, and his father, George Romney, served as governor during the 1960s. Romney has played up his roots in Michigan, noting that he was born there, despite basing his political career in Massachusetts.
Notwithstanding these advantages, polls released this week have found Santorum leading in the Michigan GOP.A Detroit News poll of likely Michigan Republican primary voters, released on Thursday, confirmed the findings of four other polls unveiled earlier in the week in that Santorum is leading over Romney.
The poll has Santorum out front with 34 percent while Romney is in second with 30 percent. Newt Gingrich places a distant third with 12 percent and Ron Paul trails in single digits with 9 percent. Twelve percent remain undecided.
The poll of 500 likely Michigan Republican primary voters was taken Feb.11-13 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.38 percent.
Romney is in catch-up mode -- and he made some attempts to close the gap in Michigan on Thursday. The former Massachusetts governor got a boost when he won the backing of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. Snyder took to the pages of the Detroit News, where he penned an op-ed backing Romney.
I am humbled to have the support of Governor Snyder, said Romney. Michigan is where I grew up. Getting the state back on track is personal for me. Governor Snyder is a businessman, like me, and understands firsthand how the Obama administration has stifled job growth and economic expansion in Michigan. Along with the work of conservative leaders like Governor Snyder, we will be able to restore Michigans once-thriving economy and help the state lead a national economic recovery.
Job one in Michigan is jobs, Snyder said. Michigan needs Washington to be an active, innovative and supportive partner in its reinvention so that we can put families back to work and give our children the fulfilling opportunities they deserve. Mitt Romney gets it. He understands the economy and will work with states to create an environment that encourages job growth. Mitt spent his career in the private sector. I am confident that he has the background, courage and vision to get our nation on the path to fiscal responsibility and prosperity. While I respect all candidates in the field, we need someone from outside the broken Beltway system to turn America's economy around. I urge all Michigan voters to support Mitt Romney. Our state deserves a leader like him.
The Romney camp also took aim at Santorums record in Washington, questioning if the former senator from Pennsylvania could be trusted on fiscal issues.
Mitt Romney believes it is essential that Washington live within its means. As president, he will address our skyrocketing debt and deficits with a bold fiscal plan that reforms entitlements and makes cuts in nonessential spending, Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, said on Thursday. Senator Santorums record in Washington is not fiscally conservative. Governor Romney will make the tough decisions on spending that Senator Santorum has been unable or unwilling to make.
The Santorum camp plans to strike back. On Thursday, the Red White and Blue Fund, a super-PAC backing Santorum, announced it would be launching a major ad buy in Michigan with plans to spend more than $600,000 in the state.
Santorum is also up with his own commercials in Michigan, including one that hammers Romney, portraying him as constantly being on the attack.
"At this point, Mitt Romney's act is old, tired and wearing thin with voters, insisted Hogan Gidley, Santorums communications director, when the commercial was released on Wednesday. In every primary state, Governor Romney's strategy has been the same: hide from his own record and instead, unleash his well-funded D.C. attack machine to destroy his opponent. I think it's very telling that Governor Romney refuses to talk about his own record and why someone should vote for him and instead chooses to tear down Rick Santorum.
Maybe Governor Romney feels entitled to the Republican nomination, but regardless, his actions and those of his super-PAC are sad and desperate, Gidley added. The American people deserve more than the negative, false and misleading attacks Mitt Romney is dishing out. The choice is clear and the people are rejecting a candidate like Mitt Romney, who only wants to attack his opponent, for one like Rick Santorum who focuses on building up all Americans and restoring this country to greatness."
Santorum heads to the Great Lakes State on Friday for a rally in Shelby Township held by the Michigan Faith & Freedom Coalition before heading to Ohio, which holds its primary on March 6.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
