Is Rick Santorum cheating in Michigan? Or is Mitt Romney just whining?
Is Rick Santorum cheating in the Michigan primary? Mitt Romney is implying that鈥檚 the case. Mr. Romney is complaining that the Santorum campaign is trying to recruit Democrats in the Wolverine State to vote for the former Pennsylvania senator.
What鈥檚 his evidence? Well, it鈥檚 true that Mr. Santorum and his associated super PAC appear to be paying for robocalls to Democratic voters. These calls urge recipients to cross the proverbial aisle and vote for Santorum in order to defeat Romney, who opposed the auto bailout.
On Sean Hannity鈥檚 Fox News show Monday night 鈥渄eceptive鈥� and a 鈥渄irty trick.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a new low in this campaign,鈥� said Romney.
Is it? Well, Michigan鈥檚 primary is open, meaning it鈥檚 perfectly legal for Democrats to vote on the GOP ballot. Plus, the statewide race is so close that Democratic votes could make a difference.
According to a from Public Policy Polling, Santorum leads among Democrats who plan to vote in the GOP race by 47 to 10 percent. Such voters also make up a substantial eight percent slice of the likely GOP primary electorate, according to PPP.
鈥淭he big question now is whether those folks will actually bother to show up and vote,鈥� concludes PPP.
So in that sense, Romney might just be whining. Politics ain鈥檛 beanbag, as pundits love to say, even though they have no idea what 鈥渂eanbag鈥� is. Hard-nosed tactics can be necessary to win.
That said there are some aspects of the calls which, while not illegal, do seem to be deceptive. For one, they kind of glide past the issue of who鈥檚 paying for them. At the end of the call paid for by Santorum鈥檚 campaign, the man reading says, in the required disclosure line, 鈥淭his call is supported by hard-working Democratic men and women and paid for by Rick Santorum for president.鈥�
At least, that鈥� s what it says on the copy of the call captured by a Michigan voter and at Talking Points Memo.
At the end of the call funded by a pro-Santorum super PAC, the reader 鈥� a woman this time 鈥� says simply, 鈥淧aid for by Freedom鈥檚 Defense Fund.鈥� Most Michigan voters aren鈥檛 going to know who that organization is linked to.
Plus, the ads mislead due to what they leave out. Both are centered on the fact that Romney opposed the auto bailout 鈥� a big negative in Michigan. The call from the Santorum campaign adds that Romney did support the financial bailout, while appearing willing to bury GM and Chrysler.
鈥淭hat was a slap in the face to every Michigan voter,鈥� says the robocall.
What the call does not say is that Santorum opposed the auto bailout, too. He has defended this position in Michigan by noting that unlike Romney he also opposed the financial bailout, so he鈥檚 the consistent conservative, while Romney just didn鈥檛 like Detroit. But if Santorum included that context on the call, we鈥檙e pretty sure most of the Democrats on the other end would just hang up.
Will the calls work? It鈥檚 possible. But Santorum may have given Romney a ready-made excuse if he loses in Michigan, while muddying his own message, according to conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin.
鈥淚n his anxiousness to try and pull in a few Democratic voters, Santorum has undercut his own self-description as the most Republican of the Republican candidates and conveyed a certain desperation,鈥� on her Right Turn blog Tuesday.
