The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Santorum Turns the Tables on Mitt in Michigan With Robo-Calls to Democrats

Posted on | February 28, 2012 | 43 Comments

Rick Santorum greets supporters in Lansing, Monday, Feb. 27, 2012

“[T]he devastating oppo hit has been the defining characteristic of the Romney campaign since December . . .”
— Reid J. Epstein and Zachary Abrahamson, Politico, Feb. 24

“It has been confirmed that a robocall making the rounds in Michigan the day before the state’s GOP primary comes from the Rick Santorum campaign and urges Democrats to vote for Santorum and against Mitt Romney.”
— Evan McMorris Santo, Talking Points Memo, Feb. 27

TROY, Michigan
How much has Mitt Romney’s campaign used dirty tricks in the 2012 campaign? A lot, I’d say. While I always suspected that the sexual allegations against Herman Cain were pushed to the media by the Rick Perry campaign, others whose knowledge I trust have since assured me that Team Mitt was behind it.

Take that with a grain of salt, if you wish, but it’s something I’ve kept in mind the past three weeks as I’ve watched Rick Santorum being hounded by the media over “controversies” that looked for all the world as if they were ginned up by a certain rival campaign with a notable aptitude for “the devastating oppo hit.”

Politics ain’t beanbag, James Carville likes to say, and students of the campaign game must admire the skill with which Romney’s oppo squad digs up stuff and pushes it to the media.

Nevertheless, I was laughing along with Rick Santorum when he showed up on Sean Hannity’s TV show Monday night and was asked about his campaign’s robocall to Michigan Democrats, which Mitt Romney called “a new low” in the 2012 race.

“You mean when he runs a robocall of my voice from four years ago saying good things about him, that’s not a low moment? And when I run a call basically calling Democrats that are eligible to vote here to vote for us, and encouraging people to come and vote for us, and we talk about our manufacturing plan and what we are going to do to create jobs, it’s a very positive robocall. Talking about what we are doing to create jobs in Michigan. . .
“Of course, you know, it’s interesting that he criticize me for attracting Democrats because one of the things that Governor Romney’s people say is [Santorum] can’t attract Democrats. Well guest What? We will wait and see. I think I can.”

Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it? It’s about time Team Mitt got a nice stiff dose of their own medicine, and now Allahpundit’s sweating it:

Nate Silver’s model now gives Santorum a 36 percent chance of pulling the upset, up from 23 percent over the weekend, and PPP is reporting “encouraging things” for [Santorum] in the phone calls it made this afternoon.

Even if Santorum has accomplished nothing else, making Mitt-huggers sweat the Michigan results is what I’d call a “moral victory,” a little revenge for the bum’s rush at Romney HQ Thursday.

The downside? It might be another very long night for me, waiting at Santorum’s Primary Night party past midnight while the lead shifts back and forth and the guys on TV keep saying it’s “too close to call.” That would be a total bummer, because Santorum’s Primary Night party is in Grand Rapids, more than 150 miles from here.

So I’m picturing myself on the phone with my editor at the American Spectator at 1 a.m., pleading for more time to finish my column, filing it at maybe 2:30 a.m., then having to drive all the way back here to crash about 5 a.m., and get up in time to check out at noon. And then on to Ohio, to begin another week of coverage leading up to Super Tuesday.

Show of hands: Who thought Mitt would have had the nomination practically locked up by now? Who expected Romney would have to fight like hell just to win his home state? After Mitt won Florida and Nevada, I thought he might be on the verge of running the table, but somehow Santorum keeps on fighting back.

Anyway, I went to Romney’s rally last night in Royal Oak, and here’s my American Spectator column today:

The state’s top elected Republican officials took their turns on the stage of the Royal Oak Music Theatre: Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Attorney General Bill Schuette and finally Gov. Rick Snyder, who introduced the man the crowd had come to see, Mitt Romney. Wearing jeans and a navy blazer, Romney spoke for about 12 minutes, giving a variation of his standard stump speech, quoting the lyrics of “America the Beautiful” and the Declaration of Independence.
“I happen to believe that if we want to have a strong economy and good private-sector jobs, it helps to have a president who’s had a private-sector job,” the former Massachusetts governor said, drawing cheers from more than 500 supporters in attendance in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. Romney said his arguments for strengthening the economy are “the reason that I can defeat Barack Obama in Michigan in the fall.”
Before he can do that, of course, Romney must first show he can win Michigan in February and, on the eve of Tuesday’s GOP primary here, that proposition was still very much in doubt. While Romney has recovered from the slump that had him trailing by double digits in his native state two weeks ago, the latest polls show the longtime Republican frontrunner barely leading Rick Santorum. (One late poll even showed Santorum with a slight lead.) While Romney has outspent his Republican rival here and has deployed his professional campaign staff effectively, the intensity of the fight in Michigan has exceeded what anyone would have predicted a month ago. In 2008, Romney defeated John McCain here by an 80,000-vote margin, and Michigan was widely expected to be a “safe” state for Romney this time around. . . .

Please read the whole thing. And hit the freaking tip jar!

 

 

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Category: Election, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum

Comments

43 Responses to “Santorum Turns the Tables on Mitt in Michigan With Robo-Calls to Democrats”

  1. Mike Rogers
    February 28th, 2012 @ 9:53 am

    Another nail-biter, and I’ll be flying overhead as you head to that, hopefully, victory party in Western Michigan.
    By a strange coincidence, we’ll both be staying in hotels run by a guy named Willard, while we root for the defeat of another guy named Willard :-/
    As I earn a few extra Marriott points for the ongoing support of starving journalists, I urge the readers here to hit his freaking tip jar!

  2. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:04 am

    Watching the panic by the GOP establishment side would be amusing, except that the stakes are so high.  As for Andrew Sullivan’s panic, well he is called “Excitable Andrew” for a reason.    

  3. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:08 am

    Dammit, when is Rick going to learn that we should not be reaching out to the people that… uh… whose votes we’re going to need to win in November… um, hold it, rewind…

    Dammit, when is Rick going to learn that he should not do… uh… to Mitt what Mitt did to him in November… no, wait…

    What exactly is the problem here?

  4. Rick Santorum and E Pluribus Unum in Michigan
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:11 am

    […] extraordinaire Robert Stacy McCain has traveled to Michigan to report on the Santorum and Romney campaigns. There’s some talk, it seems, about Rick […]

  5. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:32 am

    I keep trying to imagine Newt making a robocall to Democrats and independents, but I can’t get past the part with all the laughter…

  6. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:04 am

    …and hanging up.

  7. JohnL
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:05 am

    Tricky Rick–Nixon without the five o’clock shadow.

  8. BradleyHarman
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:37 am

    This little stunt  just made this loyal Republican decide here and now I will NOT vote for Rick Santorum if he’s the GOP nominee. 

    I was already insulted enough be being called a “non-Christian” since I’m a mianstream Protestant, and for being called a “sexual libertine” because I practice birth control with my family of four, but Santorum calling up Democrats to tell them to jump in our primary takes the cake.

  9. Finrod Felagund
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:48 am

    Meanwhile who is Mitt Romney’s PAC running webads against?  Newt Gingrich.
     

  10. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » Attn Mitt Romney: The future Ambasador to Vanuatu can’t be bought or sold! » Datechguy's Blog
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:53 am

    […] the wrong side during the primaries, and as Stacy McCain notes, after Florida many thought it was a done deal: Show of hands: Who thought Mitt would have had the nomination practically locked up by now? Who […]

  11. Bob Agard
    February 28th, 2012 @ 12:18 pm

    Hi Stacey,
    As a regular reader of your blog, I was excited and delighted to turn on KOA radio this morning and hear that you were going to be the guest on the Mike Rosen show. You did a great job, as I would have expected. It was hard for you to get a word in edge-wise when Mike was so defensive about there being such a thing as “establishment” Republicans. I guess that is why we blog, because we can take our time to put our arguments and thoughts out there with good substantiation. Nevertheless, I was pleased that Mike chose to have you on his show, which shows appreciation and validity for the work you have done covering this campaign.

    Though I bow to your knowledge of the political scene, and all the hard work you have put into covering the races in various states, I do have one suggestion for you to work on in future interviews. You have a habit of saying “you know” dozens of times, and it distracts from the insights you are providing. If we “knew” what you know, we wouldn’t be listening to you!

  12. ThomasD
    February 28th, 2012 @ 12:55 pm

    Heaven’s to Betsy!

  13. Bob Belvedere
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:33 pm

    I’ve noticed that as well.

    I have the tendency to use ‘uh’ too often when on the radio.  I try to always remember what a Toastmaster once told me: when you feel just about to say ‘uh’ take a quick breath.

  14. Adjoran
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:36 pm

     Have a hanky, Buttercup.

    You vote for our nominee – even if it’s a brokered convention and we have to compromise and nominate Gary Johnson’s neighbor’s dog’s steaming pile of poop (of “shovel-ready job” fame) – or you are voting for Obama in effect.  Whether you stay home, leave the top line blank, or vote for some third party, the only difference is degree.

    Politics is rough business, elbows fly.  I know, if you hang around here you might get the idea that conservatives are a bunch of princesses at a Barbie ball, but there are some adults among us.  Run from the sound of sobbing towards the shouts and gunfire.

    Get over it.

  15. Adjoran
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:37 pm

     Who are Obama’s and the union PACs running web AND paid TV/radio ads against?  Mitt Romney.

  16. Adjoran
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:42 pm

     Who are Obama’s and the union PACs running web AND paid TV/radio ads against?  Mitt Romney.

  17. Charles
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:43 pm

    Check out of Troy so you can have breakfast in Grand Rapids.

  18. Adjoran
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:48 pm

    Wow, getting more mileage out of the same anonymous smear you used against Perry by recycling it against Romney!  Very frugal, also completely dishonest.  If your “others whose knowledge [you] trust” actually have anything, wouldn’t that be HUGE news?

    Maybe you need to edit that Koestler quote at the top – if you believe this is true, why not NAME NAMES and break the race wide open?  Isn’t that what a courageous reporter would do?

    Yet, somehow, these smears never seem to make it into the AmSpec pieces, do they?  I have to wonder:  do you leave them out because you know they have higher standards for what they publish, or do they remove them?  I mean, here you are ruthlessly writing what you believe to be true, why wouldn’t you include that for the biggest audience?

    I call BS – again.

  19. Pathfinder's wife
    February 28th, 2012 @ 1:59 pm

    Oh yes, because Mitt Romney wasn’t ever courting Democrat or independent voters ever.

  20. Pathfinder's wife
    February 28th, 2012 @ 2:02 pm

    Tissue?  Or, considering all the straw scattered there, pitchfork?

    Please — I’ve got my qualms with Santorum, but this sort of stuff is ridiculous and makes me want to vote for him.
    The outrageaously outraged outrage just makes me want to vote for him (and maybe twice, this is IL :P) so I can make people like you get the vapors — it’s actually quite entertaining to witness.

  21. Bob Agard
    February 28th, 2012 @ 2:24 pm

    Well, Bob, at least you and Stacy have distinguished yourselves in the blogosphere well enough to be invited on radio talk shows! I still have not reached first base, and, when I do, I am sure I will have lots of things I need to correct in my own speech.

  22. Tuesday Roundup 2/28/12
    February 28th, 2012 @ 2:34 pm

    […] Santorum Turns the Tables on Mitt in Michigan With Robo-Calls to Democrats […]

  23. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 2:49 pm

    You’d be amazed what you can learn about how people hear you from even the simplest audio playback. Seldom sounds much like the main voice in your head.

  24. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 3:02 pm

    I always thought the Cain leaks had to come from either Mitt or Perry.  The Dems didn’t gain anything from them so early in the game.  But looking back on it, most of the gossip about Perry’s Cain dirt seemed more financial in nature, “real Enron stuff” as one Perry backer put it.

    Now Perry’s out and the dirty little leaks continue.  Kinda narrows it down.

    What pisses me off in particular  is the RNC not only condoning this but complicit.  Anyone seriously doubt Mitt didn’t have access to the RNC vetting of Cain?

  25. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 3:48 pm

     Okay, let’s compromise. If Mitt gets the nomination, I’ll write in Gary Johnson’s dog’s shit. There, how’s that?

  26. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 3:51 pm

     You practice birth control with your family of four? Far be it from me to interfere with that.

  27. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 4:01 pm

     The thing about it is, those leaks had to have some kind of foundation beforehand, and it would seem to be from a time well before Herman sought the nomination. I’m going to guess the original leak was from Herman’s open zipper. Whoever put it out there, whether Perry or Romney, or the RNC, probably did us all a big old favor, because if they hadn’t come out when they did and Herman did end up getting the nomination, the general election campaign would have been a disaster of mock epic proportions. Obama, the moderate, decent family man versus Herman, the right-wing lecherous self-loathing Uncle Tom with a weakness for white blond women. And you know that’s how it would have been played by the Democrats, and the media. And the moderate so-called independents would have eaten it up.

  28. Mick Stockinger
    February 28th, 2012 @ 4:37 pm

    A line has been crossed.  This is Santorum’s black baby moment.  For everyone but you savage Romney-haters, this is clearly an unbelievably cynical act.  I could not vote for an asshole like Santorum even if he won the nomination.  The man is mad for power he neither merits or deserves.

  29. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 4:57 pm

    I think some people reading this need to get a clue. When Rick Santorum talks about inviting Democrats to vote for him in what is essentially an open primary, he’s not talking about kissing up to the far left liberal progressive base of the Democrat Party, he’s talking about rank-and-file union voters who happen to mostly be registered Democrats, but who to a great extent, at least in many many cases, happen to be social conservatives, though perhaps economic moderates. There used to be a word for voters like that. You perhaps know them better as “Reagan Democrats”. They not only helped Reagan in both of his two great decisive presidential victories, they also came out in force for Nixon in ’72. What is Santorum talking about here that is appreciably different?

    Bottom line, we might not need these people to win, but we definitely MUST have them if we are to win a decisive victory that might translate into large gains for the House and the Senate, or the kind of victory experienced by Reagan and Nixon.

    I even suggested a while back that Santorum forgo Florida and concentrate the bulk of his efforts on Michigan for precisely this reason. If he had done so, instead of wasting his time in Florida, can you imagine how far ahead in Michigan he might be by now?

  30. Bob Belvedere
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:11 pm

    I learned that very early on when I used to make comedy tapes for my friends.  In the recording studio it can be quite jarring, especially at $35/hour.

  31. Bob Belvedere
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:13 pm

    I;m seriously thinking of starting my own show; if I do, I’ll have you on.

  32. Bob Belvedere
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:19 pm

    I see the Willard Trolls are out in full force.

    http://thecampofthesaints.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/troll-doll-twohead-01.jpg

  33. Pathfinder's wife
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:25 pm

    Again: and Mitt Romney has never, ever been cynical?

    Yep, I think I WILL vote for Santorum just to make people get the vapors.  

    And for the record: I’m a moderate independent Perry hater who has gone on record as saying that I’d vote for Perry if he was the nom, just as I will Mitt if he gets it.  Won’t be happy about it; will have to beat back the little voices in my head that keep pushing me to write in or lodge a protest throwaway vote for Gary Johnson (also not a perfect canidate imho, as are none of them), but I’d still do it because the alternative is worse (which I’m also not happy about, but I digress).

    Son of a gun, sounds like I’m a better conservative voter than you are — crazy world we inhabit huh?  I guess some of the “true conservatives” and “true Republicans” owe me a big ol’ apology after this (after all, I’m an ignorant, low information, American Idol watching moderate independent sheeple who is so easily swayed by the non-issues).

  34. EXCLUSIVE: Election Day in Hell, Michigan: Does Romney Have a Snowball’s Chance of Winning? : The Other McCain
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:38 pm

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  35. Dave C
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:43 pm

    If you don’t like what Santorum did, complain the Michigan Republican Party and tell them to close the primary. 

    Other than that, shut the hell up.  I thought it was rather shrewd myself..   and if you man Romney thought of it  first, you would be rubbing Santorum’s nose i n it. 

  36. Dave C
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:47 pm

    Bullcrap.. if Mitt had done this first, you would be wetting yourself in excitement, shoving this in the faces of Santorum’s supporters..

  37. Dave C
    February 28th, 2012 @ 5:50 pm

    Agreed.. and if the rank and file don’t like this tactic, they need to complain to their state level party and demand closed primaries. 

  38. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 7:23 pm

     Question for you, Mick-how does it feel to know your candidate is a little whining pussy bitch? If he loses Michigan tonight, what’s he gonna do-cry?

  39. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:01 pm

    What you got against black babies, bigot?

  40. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:02 pm

    Mitt DID do this first, in ’92 in MA and this campaign in NH…

  41. Michigan & Arizona Primary Results Open Thread » Caffeinated Thoughts
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  43. Memo From the National Affairs Desk: ‘If I Could Walk That Way …’ : The Other McCain
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