Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Romney gaining ground in Michigan: Rick Santorum’s 15-point lead in Michigan is down to just 4, according to the latest survey from Public Policy Polling. Mitt Romney’s share rose to 33% to Santorum’s 37%. Ron Paul gets 15% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich brings up the rear with 10%. The primary is next Tuesday, February 28.
- Santorum widens lead over Romney nationally: Gallup’s daily tracking poll shows Rick Santorum slowly widening his lead over Mitt Romney. He is now ahead among Republican voters nationally 36% to 28%.
- McDonnell heads to Michigan for Romney: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a top Romney surrogate, will be in Michigan on President’s Day. McDonnell will address the Kent County Republican Committee Lincoln Day dinner in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Romney surrogates will lay out his economic plan for Michigan: On a conference call Monday afternoon, Romney surrogates Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will hold a press conference call on Mitt Romney’s “conservative vision for creating jobs in Michigan.”
- Trump pitches in for Romney: Donald Trump, who endorsed Mitt Romney, will do some work for him as well. ABC News reports that Trump will be doing radio interviews in Michigan this week on local stations across the state.
- Santorum sticks to social issues in attacking Obama: Rick Santorum continued to hit President Obama on social issues, particularly the new contraception rule. Sunday night, he told a church gathering in Georgia that the policy “is imposing his ideology on a group of people expressing their theology – their moral code – and saying government will force you to do what your faith says is gravely wrong.” Note, though, Santorum chose to say “ideology” instead of “theology” after previous comments earned a lot of blow-back Sunday morning.
- Democrats start to take note of Santorum: Obama campaign advisor Robert Gibbs said Sunday that there was a real possiblity Santorum would be the Republican nominee and that the Obama campaign was looking more closely at him. A few hours later, the DNC attacked Santorum for going after social issues rather than talking about jobs and the economy.
- Gingrich says home states are must-wins: On Sunday, Newt Gingrich set the stakes for the upcoming primaries in Michigan on February 28 and Georgia on March 6, saying if Romney loses his home state he will be severely weakened, while also admitting that Georgia is a must-win state for his campaign to remain viable. Santorum, he said, must win Pennsylvania as well.
- Santorum campaigns in Midwest Monday: Rick Santorum is spending President’s Day in Ohio and Michigan, with one event in each state. Tuesday, he’ll move on to Arizona, where he’ll campaign Tuesday and Wednesday. There’s a presidential debate in Phoenix Wednesday night.
- Romney campaigns in Ohio: Mitt Romney will be in Ohio Monday, where he has one event, a discussion on jobs and the economy with employers, scheduled for Monday afternoon. Ann Romney will attend a Lincoln Day dinner in Jackson, Michigan.
