Five days and six states later Mitt Romney wrapped up his Battleground state bus tour in the state where he was born:
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney capped a tour of six swing states along the Lake Michigan shoreline Tuesday night, saying this is a “defining time” for the country. “This president attacks economic freedom. He tries to substitute government for freedom,” the Michigan native told a crowd of 1,500 at the Holland State Park, in the heart of a strongly GOP county. “It will not work to get our economy strong. … I’ll get us strong again.” Romney said the economic recovery is weak and too slow – the slowest since the early 1930s – and said the Democratic president’s policies are to blame.
Romney took aim at Obama’s signature legislative achievement — the federal health care law, one that was based in part on legislation Romney signed when he was governor of Massachusetts. “I’ll take out that big cloud that’s been hanging over small business. We’re going to get rid of Obamacare and return to personal responsibility,” drawing large applause from the crowd. “By the way, that doesn’t just mean that people are going to be off on their own. … We’re also going to make certain the insurance companies have to give people a fair deal.” That means people with pre-existing conditions should not be denied coverage if they get sick or change jobs. Those protections are in the current law signed by Obama. After the speech ended, Romney shook hands and eventually walked with his wife Ann down to the water. They stepped in and enjoyed a walk back to the campaign bus.
This blog is about Battleground States and we love Battleground counties, but it turns out Mitt Romney’s tour through Michigan included two Battleground towns:
When Mitt Romney’s bus rolls 165 miles from “Little Bavaria” to the Lake Michigan shoreline Tuesday – with room for pie tasting in-between – he will enter traditionally Republican towns that Barack Obama did well in four years ago. Two of the three small cities, DeWitt north of Lansing and Holland southwest of Grand Rapids, heavily backed George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, giving him between 57 and 62 percent of the vote. In 2008, Obama won both over John McCain – taking 51 percent in DeWitt and 53 percent in Holland.
Only Frankenmuth, his first stop, stayed strongly Republican over the last dozen years. Romney officials have said showing that he cares about small towns is more important than picking up votes in those areas. But it surely will not hurt to try to shore up rural or non-suburban voters, many of whom supported GOP candidate Rick Santorum in the state’s February primary narrowly won by Romney.
Polling close:
Though some polls in the past five weeks have shown Obama with a comfortable lead here, at least two others have him essentially tied with the former Massachusetts governor. The latest, released last week by Foster McCollum White & Associates and Baydoun Consulting, had Obama garnering support from nearly 47 percent of likely voters and Romney about 45.5 percent. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said last week he expected Michigan to be continue to be a close race.
Michigan tour rundown:
Romney starts his morning in Frankenmuth, a city of German ancestry known for the Bavarian Inn Lodge, Zehnder’s restaurant and Bronner’s, the world’s largest Christmas store. He will hold a rally at the lodge. He stops in DeWitt for a brief early afternoon visit to the Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe, whose owner has won various national pie-making championships. The last – and final – stop of his multi-state small-town tour is a night rally at Holland State Park.
Battleground Watch 