As we come up on 9 PM on the east coast it’s looking clear we’re in for a long night in Michigan. We’re near 10% of precincts reporting and Rick Santorum has been holding a very small lead pretty much all night. (Live results here.) The exit polls point to a 3 point Romney advantage. But that’s not enough to make any bets on for an exit poll.
The last precincts close in Michigan at 9PM, as do the polls in Arizona (live results here.)
It’s only a bit larger lead than Santorum had for much of the evening. But Mitt Romney’s starting to open up a lead in Michigan. (Live Results here) At the moment, we have 18% of the precincts in. Romney has just less than a 4 point lead. That’s about 8,000 votes.
The latest exit polls from Michigan have a 3 point margin for Romney. And that’s about the results are showing at the moment.
The exit polls tell a familiar story out of Michigan. Rick Santorum won blue collar and middle class voters. Romney, meanwhile, won big among more affluent voters and crushed it among voters making over 200k a year.
The push in Virginia for mandatory vaginal ultrasounds before an abortion was met with national outrage that soon saw the measure modified. This week a representative in Alabama introduced a similar measure before also walking things back under pressure.
But by setting the bar to the extreme, and then drawing back, are the proponents of these measures actually changing the conversation in their favor? Our Jillian Rayfield reports.
Tough anti-union measures in Arizona that caused an uproar in January have now largely withered on the legislative vine. But could a push from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity bring them back to life?
About an hour ago, a reporter for a cable-only TV news station in Ohio tweeted that Mitt Romney has told him in a yet-to-air interview that he opposed the Blunt amendment, which would allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance policies that cover contraception and other matters of conscience. Opposition to the Blunt amendment by Romney would mark a sharp break from the current orthodoxy of national Republicans, but it’s not entirely clear yet what Romney said.
The Ohio reporter, Jim Heath of the Ohio News Network, let Greg Sargent of the Washington Post listen to the audio of the interview. Greg’s account suggests Romney did voice opposition of some kind to the bill.
The Romney campaign has been quiet for the last hour despite reporters scrambling to ascertain Mitt’s position. Just now, there are reports that the campaign is saying ONN’s reporting is wrong (the tape will resolve that), and the campaign is saying Romney in fact supports the Blunt amendment.
Our full report shortly.
Update: Sahil Kapur and Benjy Sarlin with the full report.
The Romney campaign thinks it’s found the silver bullet for taking Rick Santorum down on Super Tuesday: Santorum’s the turncoat robocaller.
If you listen to the on-going political conversation in Washington, Israelis hate President Obama and are pining for a Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney to take the White House, destroy Iran and generally make the world a happy place again. But a new poll paints a very different picture. Read More