- APFeb. 28, 2012: Mitt Romney greets supporters at his election watch party after winning the Michigan primary in Novi, Mich.
Mitt Romney,
at least before a pair of primary victories cheered his spirits, seemed
bent out of shape over Rick Santorum's overt effort in Michigan to
attract Democrats. But Michigan won't be the last place Romney faces the
prospect of questionably motivated crossover votes.
Seven of the 10 states hosting primaries and
caucuses next Tuesday have what are known as "open" elections. Just
like in Michigan, Democrats and independents as well as Republicans will
be welcome to vote.
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Facing that reality, the Romney campaign
already is working to counter an expected push by Santorum to lure those
votes. The Romney campaign was holding a conference call Wednesday
afternoon in which high-powered supporters from Super Tuesday states planned to call on Santorum to "stop teaming up with Democrats."
At least in Michigan, Santorum's gambit
appeared to pay off. Nine percent of the voters in Tuesday's primary
self-identified as Democrats, according to exit polls
-- and of them, a whopping 53 percent broke for Santorum. Romney, by
contrast, pocketed just 18 percent of those voters, roughly the same
proportion that backed Ron Paul.
It wasn't enough to put Santorum over the top, but in another contest that turnout could play a deciding role.
The seven states holding open contests are Georgia,
Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
The latter is a unique case, as only Paul and Romney are on the ballot.
Going into the contests, Romney has regained his footing with back-to-back wins in Michigan and Arizona Tuesday night.
But his competitors all have big plans for Super Tuesday
and beyond, and are determined to provide pundits with fresh evidence
next week that voters still harbor second thoughts about a Romney
nomination.
"This is a critical seven days for Romney,"
said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for
Politics, predicting Romney's lead will continue to wobble in the weeks
ahead. Sabato described Ohio as a critical state for Romney, or any
candidate, on Tuesday. Perhaps making things a bit simpler, Ohio does
not hold an open primary.
On Wednesday, Santorum said he was "glad that Democrats showed up in the polls." He explained that "Reagan Democrats"
agree with conservatives -- including him -- on numerous issues,
including social and religious topics and the need for a resurgence in
manufacturing jobs.
But as recently as January, Santorum lamented the other party's role in a primary.
"We want the activists of the party, the
people who make up the backbone of the Republican Party to have a say in
who our nominee is as opposed to a bunch of people who don't even
identify themselves as Republicans picking our nominee. I don't like
that. I believe that states should only allow Republicans to vote in
Republican primaries," he told reporters in a Jan. 29 conference call.
In a press conference at his Michigan
headquarters on Tuesday, Romney warned about crossover voting, saying
Democrats could choose "who they think is the easiest person to run
against" -- in other words, the candidate President Obama could most
easily beat in November.
"I think Republicans have to recognize there's a real effort to kidnap our primary process," Romney said.
But Romney has found himself defending
crossover participation of his own -- his vote in the 1992 Democratic
presidential primary for Paul Tsongas. Romney said Tuesday that the
Tsongas vote was different, and grounded in a genuine desire to stymie Bill Clinton.
"In my case, I was certainly voting against
the Democrat who I thought ... would be the worst leader of our nation.
In this case, as I recall, it was Bill Clinton," Romney said. "I wanted
someone other than Bill Clinton. ... I voted against Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, and Bill Clinton. It seemed like a good group to be against."
Liberal filmmaker and Michigan native Michael Moore
acknowledged in an interview ahead of Tuesday's primary that his
Democratic friends were voting for Santorum. It was, he said, part of
"Operation Hilarity," an effort by Moveon.org to disrupt the GOP
nomination.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic Party, on Wednesday denied any orchestrated movement to get Democrats to vote Santorum.
"We weren't involved in any organized effort
to get Democrats to do that," she said. Rather, she said Democrats use
contests like Michigan as an "organizing tool," opening offices and
reaching out to supporters in the state. If Democrats want to then go
ahead and vote in the GOP primary, she said, that "always has been their
choice."
Whether or not the 53 percent of the
Democratic vote was a reflection of Democrats' desire to pick a weaker
candidate to run against Obama, Santorum was the clear beneficiary of
their participation.
Without mentioning the open primary process,
Santorum said Wednesday that he's feeling very good about his chances
on Super Tuesday.
"We're going to compete, and we're going to
do exceptionally well on Super Tuesday," Santorum told Fox News. "We're
going to show that we are the alternative -- if you want a conservative
that's going to go up again Barack Obama."
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