We're down to five days, now. Five days before the state holds its all-important presidential primary, and two new polls show a tightening race between front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
"An NBC News/Marist Poll released Wednesday shows 37 percent of 1,147 likely Michigan GOP primary voters backing Romney, 35 percent Santorum and 13 percent Ron Paul. Eight percent support Newt Gingrich, and 4 percent are undecided," the Associated Press reports. And, "a new EPIC-MRA poll of 400 likely voters shows Santorum with 37 percent, Romney 34 percent, Paul 10 percent and Gingrich 7 percent. Twelve percent were undecided," the AP notes.
The four Republican candidates debated last night in Arizona, possibly the last debate of this 2012 primary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17V2LlAFgEk
About 30 minutes into the debate, a subject close to many Michiganders hearts and pocketbooks - the auto bailout - was brought up. The AP reports:
All of the GOP presidential candidates say they oppose President Barack Obama's decision to bail out failing automakers... Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul all say they'd have refused giving government money to General Motors and Chrysler. Gingrich says it wouldn't have been a tough decision -- he says that other operations in the auto industry outside of Detroit were doing fine. Romney says that his own approach to the auto industry calling for a structured bankruptcy would have been better. He says that some of the money used in the bailout was wasted. Paul says he opposes all bailouts and says just because a bailout was successful doesn't mean it should have been done.
Just in case you're craving more post-debate analysis this morning, you can check out the stories below. And, is it just me, or is there a whole lotta fightin' words in these headlines ("duels," "attacks," "jabs," "draws fire")!?
- Politico: Rick Santorum on the defensive in Arizona debate
- The New York Times: Romney duels with Santorum in Arizona debate
- The Detroit News: Romney, Santorum go on attack in GOP debate
- CNN.com: Romney jabs at Santorum's record in CNN debate
- Wall Street Journal: Santorum draws fire in fight for GOP lead
