With the Michigan primary 12 days away, Mitt Romney, who was born and raised in Michigan, has been stressing his ties to the state. “Michigan has been my home, and this is personal,” Romney says in a new ad airing across Michigan.
Yet in a brief, unscripted moment Wednesday, Romney made clear that the days when he thought of Michigan as his home are far in the past. Beginning an interview with MLive.com, a group of Michigan journalists, Romney was asked a simple question: “Tigers or Red Sox?”
“Oh, Red Sox, I’m afraid,” Romney answered. “I’ve lived in Massachusetts for how many years now? Forty years.”
Romney went on to describe rooting for the Detroit Tigers, and his hero Al Kaline, at Tiger Stadium, which was then known as Briggs Stadium in Romney’s youth. (Its name was changed in 1960.) He was a big Tigers fan at the time, Romney said. But that was a long time ago.
Nevertheless, Romney expressed solid confidence that he will win Michigan’s February 28 primary. When a journalist pointed out that “Three polls today show you losing Michigan,” Romney responded flatly: “Well, that won’t happen.”
