Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum returns to Michigan Monday, speaking at a Republican fundraiser in Grand Rapids. Mitt Romney visits Macomb County Tuesday.
Governor Rick Snyder – the state’s top Republican elected official – hopes the debate will shift from where the candidates stood on the federal bailout of the auto industry.
Governor Snyder has endorsed Romney in the Michigan primary. Romney opposed the bailout in a famous 2008 New York Times editorial titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Santorum says he’s more consistent because he opposed both the auto rescue and the Wall Street bailout.
But Governor Snyder says that’s history and, it’s no longer a discussion worth having while Michigan still has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.
“That’s what our citizens really care about, not the auto bailout, but what are going to do to do more and better jobs for the future,” says Snyder.
Democrats, however, don’t appear interested in letting the topic disappear. Democratic response teams are putting a big effort into reminding voters on how the GOP candidates opposed federal loans for
GM and Chrysler.