At times, Santorum has sounded like the
theology/gynecology candidate.
While Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum engage in a fight to the finish in the state’s Republican primary, it’s starting to appear that neither of the two frontrunners has much of a chance of beating President Obama in the Michigan general election.
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A new NBC News/Marist poll found that Obama has opened up an 18-point lead in a head-to-head matchup with Romney, 51 to 33 percent, and a whopping 26-point edge over Santorum, 55 to 29 percent.
All the talk on the campaign trail about contraceptives and sterilization and abortion and amniocentesis probably hasn’t helped, particularly among independents. At times, Santorum has sounded like the theology/gynecology candidate.
Romney tried to play catch-up yesterday in Shelby Township by talking about his Mormonism and claiming the president and his advisers have “fought against religion” by attempting to make birth control available to all.
Yet, it’s particularly heartening to see that Obama is in the driver’s seat due in part to the Republicans’ rigid opposition – still, to this day — to the feds’ auto rescue for General Motors and Chrysler.
The NBC/Marist survey shows 63 percent of voters across the state disagree with Romney and Santorum and support the federal government’s decision to assist General Motors and Chrysler in 2008-09.
Fifty-eight percent gave Obama a good deal or great deal of credit for the turnaround of the domestic auto industry, compared to 37 percent who said the incumbent deserved not very much or no credit at all.
By the way: Obama leads Newt Gingrich, 56 percent to 28, and Ron Paul, 53 percent to 31.
The Democrats are energized, knowing that they have a winner of an issue in the discussions on the bailout loans, which has emerged as a central campaign issue here.
At the Shelby Township event, when Romney was asked how his version of a “managed bankruptcy” for GM and Chrysler would have worked at a time when private capital had dried up, he largely dodged the question.
Nonetheless, the former Massachusetts governor seemed awfully confident about his views, even tweaking former UAW president Ron Gettelfinger over his concerns that the public would not buy cars from bankrupt companies. “I was right and he was wrong,” the candidate told the audience.
It seems that the voters disagree.
