Santorum robocall urges Democrats to vote in GOP primary

As the GOP primary race comes down to the wire in Michigan, Rick Santorum’s campaign has a last trick up its sleeve.

The campaign has launched telephone robocalls throughout the state slamming rival Mitt Romney for opposing the auto industry bailout in late 2008 and early 2009, and urging Democrats to show up for Tuesday’s Republican primary and cast ballots for Santorum. 

“Michigan Democrats can vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Why is it so important?” the voice on the call says. “Romney supported the bailouts for his Wall Street, billionaire buddies, but opposed the auto bailouts. That was a slap in the face to every Michigan worker, and we’re not going to let Romney get away with it.”

The call urges listeners to “send a loud message” to Romney by voting for Santorum, even though Santorum, too, opposed the auto industry bailout. It ends with the line: “This call is supported by hard-working Democratic men and women and paid for by Rick Santorum for president.”

Ryan Williams, a Romney spokesman, issued a statement late on Monday that said: “It is outrageous that Rick Santorum is inviting Democrats into the Republican primary to vote against Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum has moved beyond just ‘taking one for the team.’ He is now willing to wear the other team’s jersey if he thinks it will get him more votes. We believe that Republicans will decide who wins Michigan, and we are confident that will be Mitt Romney.”

A Santorum spokesman defended the attempt to turn out Reagan Democrats for Santorum, despite the fact that Santorum’s position on the bailout was the same as Romney’s.

“Any conservative message that reaches out, when it's about creating jobs for all Americans is going to be attractive to Reagan Democrats,” Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an interview, explaining the raionale for the robocalls. “We’re going to need those Reagan Democrats to win this election.”

Asked about the contradiction in Santorum's robocalls criticizing a position Santorum himself took, Gidley said the content of the robocalls is justified because Romney supported the financial industry bailout while opposing the auto bailout, while Santorum opposed both, suggesting the issue is consistency.

“Governor Romney opposed the auto bailout for the workers of Detroit, but was fine pushing the bailout for his friends on Wall Street,” Gidley said. “Either be all for the bailout or all against the bailout, but don’t pick winners and losers.”

However, the robocalls do not mention Santorum's opposition to the auto bailout, or the consistency issue, and in fact leave listeners with the impression that Santorum supported the auto bailout.

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Could Democrats sabotage Michigan's primary?

(Carlos Osorio/AP)

DEARBORN, Mich.-- As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

But select party leaders surveyed by Yahoo News say they're not concerned about the potential impact of crossover votes.

"The Michigan Republican party believes that voters who vote in a primary do so because they're encouraged and inspired to participate in the process… not to create some type of mischief," state party spokesman Matt Frendewey told Yahoo News.

In the past, Democrats and independents have been credited with some major vote outcomes in Michigan: surveys from the 1996 reportedly indicated that 16 percent of voters in that year's Republican primary were Democrats and 17 percent were independents; many believe John McCain won Michigan's 2000 presidential primary with the help of Democrats and Independents; and others suggest Republican Gov. Rick Snyder won the 2010 primary with a boost from those same voting groups.

Frendewey said that the state GOP has been focused solely on Republican turnout for this primary and has made no efforts to appeal to independents or "soft Democrats."

For their part, Democrats say they have made no effort to encourage their fellow party members to vote on Tuesday.

United Auto Workers' President Bob King when asked last week at an anti-Mitt Romney rally in Detroit if he's encouraging auto union members (who typically vote Democratic) to participate Tuesday, he rejected the suggestion. "No, we're not," King told reporters. "I'm urging my members to work hard, to rebuild the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, to support President Obama, and really we want to build a broader movement…" he said.

The state Democratic party chairman also flatly denied any efforts to promote Democratic participation.

"We do not encourage crossover voting," chairman Mark Brewer told Yahoo News.

Brewer made that comment in a phone interview this weekend even though he put out a statement last week highlighting a video of two Republican state Senators encouraging Democrats to vote in the primary:

Democrats who accept this invitation will still be able to vote in our May 5th caucuses. If Democratic crossover votes affect the results on February 28th, Republicans will have no one but themselves to blame.

Statements such as this combined with the state's history have kept questions about crossover voters in the news. And other outlets have helped stoke interest in the subject.

Liberal Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas launched a call for Democratic voters to participate in open Republican primaries in Michigan, North Dakota, Vermont and Tennessee in an effort he dubbed "Operation Hilarity." (He made the same plea in Michigan in 2008.)

It's difficult to gauge exactly how many Democrats and Independents will head to the polls to vote Republican on Tuesday. Public Policy Polling-- which conducted robo-calls in Michigan-- on Sunday estimated that just 5 percent of likely primary voters in Michigan are Democrats and that their impact may not be felt at all. "They're splitting their votes 28-28 between Romney and Santorum," the survey outfit stated in its report.

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