>>> it's do or die time for the republican presidential candidates in michigan . rick santorum and mitt romney are making the rounds with voters there today. our first reports romney loss in michigan could throw this republican primary into an all out tail spin . both candidates are working to overcome some gaffes from the weekend.
>> obama once said he wants everybody many america to go to college. what a snob. i understand why he wants you to go to college. he wants to remake you in his image.
>> i can't be perfect. i just am who i am. if people think there's something wrong with being successful in america, then they better vote for the other guy.
>> joining me now to talk about it michael smerconish who is also an msnbc contributor, bill ballinger . thank you for being with me this afternoon. bill, i want to start with you because you know michigan politics better than most. what are you hearing on the ground right now in your state? who has the edge right now?
>> well, mitt romney 's momentum was seem to be building at the end of last week has stopped, and may be rolling backwards. right now it looks like a jump ball tomorrow. the momentum might even be mildly in santorum 's favor.
>> what do you attribute that slowed momentum?
>> there are a variety of factors. you have to look at the money. who is spending what on what. santorum has automated robo calls going into homes. i got one an hour ago myself making it sound like it's coming from the democrats saying cross over and vote in the republican primary . if you listen all the way to the end of it, it's paid for by rick santorum . that is the kind of stuff that's going on here. a lot of subterranean hanky panky .
>> mitt romney seems be demonstrating an inability or unwillingness to connect with blue collar voters there. we know there's $374,000, not much to receive in speaking females. last week it was his wife. he has ann had a few cadillacs. over the weekend, he said this, and i want to put it up on the screen for folks to read. this is what he said. he was down there, the big nascar race, quote, not as close as some of the most ardent fans, but i have some great friends who are nascar team owners. has mitt romney changed his strategy, michael smerconish . is he saying i'm rich, i'm successful, deal with it and vote for me any way.
>> craig, i don't think any one of these statements alone is worth our conversation, but when you put them together, because there's been a whole series of them, then it fosters this narrative of him being a, a wealthy guy but, b, a very detached guy. i don't think it's deliberate. i think this is who he is. i think it's going to build as we held toward november if he survive, and it's going to be a real problem for him to connect with folks that are struggling in this economy.
>> if he does end up winning the republican nomination, is mitt romney going to be able to move back to the middle and pick up independent voters?
>> i think it's going to be very difficult. they are all out now flexing their beer muscles on their conservative credentials in michigan . the statements by senator santorum wanting to vomit by hearing that 1960s speech by j.f.k., there's nothing in there to vomit. to pull back and go after independents, politico shows how obama is hammering romney . they can win the battle, but probably lose the war unless they change.
>> i want to play a bit of sound here. this is rick santorum talking -- this is him explaining on "meet the press" the snobbery stuff about the president wanting everyone to go to college. listen.
>> i encourage my kids to get higher education , absolutely. in fact, if college is the best place for them, absolutely. you know what, if going to a trade school and learning to be a carpenter or plumber or other types of skills that are artists, whatever the case may be or musician, all of those things are very important and who while professions that we should not look down our nose at and say they are less because you didn't get a four-year college degree .
>> who is his audience here?
>> well, he is speaking to very conservative republicans in the base of the party who cannot stand president obama . many of them are evangelical voters that he is hoping are strongly resisting mitt romney , will carry him to a victory in michigan and blow this race wide open . he's well positioned in ohio. he's looking at a window of ten days where he needs to take michigan and then go onto sweep super tuesday and really knock romney right off the rail. he needs to build a coalition of strong supporters, but he has done himself a world of hurt as michael smerconish has mentioned in others in these past couple of days where he had a surge that was building and now it's run straight into a wall. he's gotten some stability back in michigan . if rick santorum loses in michigan , i think it's going to be because republican primary voters there decided because of what he's saying that he cannot win in november.
>> do you think santorum wins tomorrow in michigan ?
>> i really don't know how this is going to go. it will probably depend on how many democratshis hanky panky .
>> bill, who wins tomorrow?
>> i've been saying romney would pull it out, but i've got real doubts.
>> michael smerconish , i need you to pick a candidate.
>> romney . if he loses tomorrow, but if we are back to square one if he loses.
>> thank you so much.
>> thank you.
>> tomorrow, stay with msnbc for live coverage of super tuesday. prime time coverage will start 8:00 eastern on msnbc.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46545071/
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