Free Republic

Feb 25, 2012 (Weekend Edition Saturday) — The presidential candidate loosened up a bit in his home state, politicking in a way that hasn't happened lately. Many of the states that have voted recently are just too large to shake everyone's hand. But not everyone is giving Mitt Romney a warm welcome ahead of Tuesday's primary. Mitt Romney is on a bus tour across Michigan, hoping to win the votes of the state where he grew up. With primary day Tuesday, Romney seems to have closed the gap in polls with Rick Santorum. This trip has the feel of those...

For Mitt Romney, the stakes have never been higher. “If Romney cannot win Michigan, we need a new candidate,” a top GOP senator told ABC News. Politico’s Mike Allen reported that top Republicans are “poring over filing deadlines” in primary states and are devising a plan that would allow a new candidate to enter the Republican primary, in the event that Romney loses his home state. Enter Michigan Republican governor Rick Snyder. Snyder, who endorsed Romney this week, brushes off Romney’s lagging poll numbers, describing the situation as “very fluid.” “I think it’s still fairly early in the process,” Snyder...

DETROIT -- It may just be that this time, momentum is on Romney’s side as he battles here to win the early primary in Michigan. Romney took the stage at the bottom of a large atrium at Lawrence Technological University here before one of his wildest, most roaring audiences in weeks. Red foam mitts and long, red balloons dotted the crowd of more than 500, and a big chunk of supporters were decked out in multiple articles of Romney gear. When Romney launched into his now standard lines about the trouble with Washington, he fell into a call-and-response with the...