Tagged: Rick Santorum

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul spoke out against undeclared wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Federal Reserve system and the federal war on drugs to a packed auditorium at Michigan State University this afternoon.

"We still have enough freedom to wake this country up and change the direction, but it has to come from the people. It won’t come top down. It has to come from the people because government reflects the values of the people, so if that’s what you want and you speak and you do your job, Washington will change."

The Paul campaign says he has a good chance of picking up some delegates in Michigan’s primary tomorrow.

Paul says Michigan and other states should have the right to enact medical marijuana laws without worrying about interference from the federal government.

The Obama administration has taken a hands-off policy on enforcing drug laws against most medical marijuana users.

Rick Santorum is making his final campaign stops across southern Michigan today. He told a crowd of about 300 people in a small hotel ballroom in Lansing that the manufacturing industry needs to “explode” with new jobs again.

Santorum highlighted the disparity in employment levels between people with college degrees and those without, and says the solution is to create more jobs that don’t require a college degree.

"We need to see Michigan again full of people who want to work and creating job opportunities for people to get training and skills so they can get that entry-level job," said Santorum. "They can improve and upgrade their skills as they work in those jobs and move up the ladder and become a foreman and to go up maybe even into management someday. That’s the ladder of success.”

Santorum told his supporters that Michigan’s primary could be a "game changer" for the national primary season. He did not directly mention Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, but Santorum did refer to himself as the true conservative in the race, and the best candidate to beat President Obama in the general election this fall.

"To be attacked on television by someone who is not an authentic conservative by a Massachusetts governor – [laughter and applause] – is a joke. Michigan, you have an opportunity to stop the joke."

Some Democrats hope they can play a decisive role in Michigan Republican presidential primary.

Robo-calls and e-mail blasts to Democrats are encouraging them to vote for Rick Santorum to help him beat Michigan native son Mitt Romney. Other party activists say Democrats should vote for Ron Paul.

David Doyle is a political consultant and former Michigan Republican chairman. He said it is possible for voters who are not Republicans to swing the primary results.

“Well, as close as this primary appears to be, it may be decided by one or two points. Very few Democrats and independents could have an impact. The problem is, right now, the Democrats seem to be very divided.”

But Doyle said that impact would be diluted if those voters split their votes among the Republican candidates.

It’s a busy day of campaigning in Michigan for three leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney spent today hopping from one rally to another in hopes of getting enough support to win Tuesday’s presidential primary in his native state.

Hundreds of people jammed into a machine parts manufacturer’s plant near Albion to hear Romney.

"This sure has been fun these last ten days or so," Romney joked, "We started off…15 points behind in the polls.  Now, we’re leading in the polls.   Thanks you guys."

Along with Arizona, Michigan holds its Republican presidential primary Tuesday. If Rick Santorum beats native son Mitt Romney in Michigan, it could throw the race into turmoil.

Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are neck-and-neck in the polls in the run-up to the Michigan Republican primary on Tuesday.

One group that Romney appears to have an advantage with is Roman Catholic voters despite the fact that he is Mormon and Santorum Catholic.

The disconnect between faith and politics highlights differences among Catholics and shows that some religious voters are focusing more on other issues.

Declaring Faith

Predicting presidential primary turnout is a tricky business. You would think if anyone would have a good idea of what to expect it would be the Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections in Michigan.

“We don’t have a turnout estimate at this point," says Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, "because it is a presidential primary and they do vary greatly from cycle to cycle.”

Woodhams says August primaries generally bring in about 18 to 20 percent of eligible voters. But then again that’s August. Adding to the uncertainty is a host of local issues which may, or may not, boost turnout.

Voters in parts of Oakland and Genesee Counties are electing people to vacant state house seats. There are also numerous school bond and other local issues on the ballot in communities around the state.

Losing the Michigan primary would strip the last of the varnish off the image that Mitt Romney is the inevitable GOP nominee for president. It would also commit him to the long march he says he is prepared to wage.

A Rick Santorum victory next week would be bad for Romney — a public-relations nightmare for a native son of Michigan. But political observers say it would mean little to the campaign that still has more money than any other and remains better organized to compete to the end.

Santorum has shot up in the polls in Michigan and even leads Romney in some.