Buoyed by his Tuesday election trifecta and the resulting surge in donations and support, a well-financed “super PAC” plans to join in Rick Santorum’s effort to embarrass Mitt Romney in his native state of Michigan. Advisors say that the added money could help Santorum place a close second, effectively robbing headlines and delegates from the front-runner.
“Michigan is not by any stretch a foregone conclusion for Romney,” said Stuart Roy, spokesman for the Red, White and Blue Fund formed to back Santorum at the start of the primary and caucus season. “He’s not polling as well as he should be there and it’s not as expensive to advertise as it first appears.”
That fund might not be alone. Conservative supporter Gary Bauer, a former presidential candidate in 2000 and president of American Values, is also looking at supporting Santorum. He has a super PAC aimed at defeating President Obama.
“Santorum is in a very good position,” Bauer told us. “If he can get the resources, he can do very well there.”
Santorum, who spoke to today at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, is the latest Republican to be seen as the anti-Romney in the race. But with the Michigan primary up next, February 28, he has a chance to upstage Romney like no other challenger has before.
Plus, unlike in Arizona which has a primary that day too, delegates are divided proportionally in Michigan, meaning that a close second could give Santorum nearly as many delegates as Romney. Associates are striving to squeeze the election night margin to single percentages.
“That would give him a pretty nice boost and really open some eyes,” said one associate. Added Red, White and Blue’s Roy, “Michigan has delegates that are given out proportionally, which means that you can come in second and still gain delegates, which would be devastating for Romney’s campaign if we were able to steal delegates from him in his home state.”
Romney, meanwhile, is downplaying how big he expects to win in Michigan.
While they cannot act together, both Santorum and the super PACs are likely to focus on western Michigan, heavy with Christian conservatives, and Detroit suburbs served by inexpensive cable TV. “That will make the money go further and actually hit the people we want,” said one Santorum associate.
It would also help to preserve some money for the next series of primaries and caucuses. March 6 has been dubbed Super Tuesday because 11 contests take place, some in the South where Santorum hopes to do well and will compete with Newt Gingrich for conservatives.
