Tagged: Mitt Romney

Michigan native son Mitt Romney accepts the GOP presidential nomination this evening at the Republican National Convention.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s controversial governor gave Michigan’s delegates their marching orders today for the fall presidential campaign.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker thanked Michigan Republicans for helping him defeat a recall campaign earlier this year.

Walker then urged the delegates to work just as hard to win their state for Mitt Romney in November…

There’s an elderly lady in Royal Oak who has sharpened and repaired my razors and table knives for years.

She has spent her life in business for herself, and does excellent work. She also isn’t shy about expressing her political opinions. She now works out of her home, and since the campaign started, her home has been decorated with Ron Paul signs.

A new poll of likely Michigan voters shows Republican Mitt Romney has pulled even with President Barack Obama.   That news was greeted with cheers today at the Republican National Convention.

Michigan is often referred to as a ‘second tier’ swing state.  One that likely Mitt Romney will have trouble winning over to the Republican column.   But the new Mitchell Research poll of twelve hundred voters may change that perception.    The poll found 47 percent of likely Michigan voters back the president.   47 percent support his Republican challenger.  

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan appeared before a crowd of nearly 10,000 in Commerce, Michigan on Friday.

But an off-script comment garnered most of the media attention.

The rally was held at Long Family Orchard Farm and Cider Mill. 

It's a "swing-state" edition of It's Just Politics this week. The big political question in the mitten-state currently seems to be "Is Michigan a true battleground - a swing state - in this year's presidential race?" You certainly would not be blamed for thinking so considering all of the campaign love that Michigan got this week.

Vice President Joe Biden was in Detroit on Wednesday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was in West Michigan yesterday campaigning on behalf of fellow Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and, just today, Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan visited Commerce Township.

Are we a (politically) fickle state?

This level of attention would seem to suggest that Michigan is a battleground state alongside  those perpetual swingers: Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Colorado. There are certainly reasons to believe why this could be the case, even though Michigan has gone for the Democratic nominee in the last five presidential cycles. But, if you look back even further, the five cycles before that, Michigan voted for the Republican presidential candidate every time.

It would appear that we are a fickle state. Michigan may be blue, but it elects Republicans in statewide races all the time: Governor Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson – just to name a few. And, even while Democrat Jennifer Granholn was governor, Attorney General Mike Cox and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land were both Republicans.

Interestingly enough, Michigan’s record tilts more heavily toward sending Democrats to Washington D.C.. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow are, of course, Democrats. And, in this election cycle, Republican Senate nominee Pete Hoekstra hopes to alter that trend, like Spence Abraham did –albeit for just one term – in 1994.

What do the polls say?

In this year's race, President Obama’s generally been given the edge in most polls in the state, even though Mitt Romney was born in Michigan and his father was governor here. But, just because he can claim "native-son" status, the Romney name does not always equal ballot magic. Romney's brother, Scott Romney, lost his reelection bid to the Michigan State University and his mother Lenore Romney failed in her U.S. Senate bid back in 1970. A former sister in law, Ronna, who ran with the Romney name also lost a Senate race.

A poll was released this week by Foster McCollum White and Associates for the Fox TV station in Detroit that gave Romney a four point lead over President Obama; and a slight lead for Pete Hoesktra over Senator Debbie Stabenow.

But, then, another poll was released this week that put President Obama and Senator Stabenow in the lead. So, it begs the question - which poll is right? The reality is there’s no objective measure for regular folks to use to judge the credibility of a poll. The only reality to compare it to is… other polls.

Is Michigan a swinging state?

So, aside from the polls - the question remains: are we a swing state or not? It would seem if the presidential campaigns didn’t think Michigan was relevant to them in November then they wouldn't be spending so much time here. But, one can argue that there are a whole lot of other reasons why candidates visit a place. Certainly, persuading voters is a big one. Keeping the base energized is another - especially in a year like this when it seems like most people have made up their minds who they want, or who they don’t want in the White House.

Supporters are gathering in Commerce Township, Michigan waiting to hear from Mitt Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan. They're scheduled to address the crowd around noon.

More from the Detroit News:

Even before doors were to open at 9:30 a.m., roughly 100 people turned out an hour early at the cider mill as security from Oakland County Sheriff's Department and others were sweeping the area with metal detectors and dogs.