Because of this, I was particularly disgusted when I learned that Michigan liberals prompted by the Daily Kos were turning out the vote for Santorum. And it was all in fun, meant to be hilarious and clever. And it was harmless, right? Because an extremist like Santorum could never assume the Presidency of the United States? Right?
That's not quite the whole story. Romney was counting on those votes for himself and had people going door to door asking for them. My liberal sister in Livonia said that the Romney people told her that they didn't care if she was a democrat as long as she was willing to help stop Santorum's "extreme agenda". My union aunt was complaining of all the Romney calls she was getting too.
Its also important to note that it was primarily Romney supporters in Michigan who fought to keep the primary open. Our governor, Rick Snyder was interviewed on election night and complained about Santorum's "dirty tricks". What he didn't say was that he himself is only in office due to democrat crossovers voting for him. At the end of the interview he said that he wants the primary to be kept open. Now why would he want the primary to remain open in the face of dirty tricks? At the end of the day, Romney won the most liberal areas of the state and Santorum won the conservative areas.
Also of importance is the fact that the Michigan GOP is largely owned by the SEIU and were angry that they were outplayed at their own game.
See post #9 for clear evidence of GOP SEIU connections
Its also important for republicans to remember that Michigan is a forced union state. That means that plenty of conservatives are forced into unions but that doesn't make us liberal. I myself did several years in the AFL-CIO but have never been anything but a rock solid conservative. I live in a rural area and have plenty of UAW neighbors who are just as conservative as I am. Ronald Regan specifically targeted union democrats here in Michigan and they became the core of the Reagan democrats. In 08, Duncan Hunter tried to speak to the UAW but was shut out by union leadership. Hunter is as rock solid conservative as they come.
Its important to note that there is a conservative movement growing within the private sector UAW and they actually walk the walk. The head of the conservative UAW group (Terry Bowman) actually testified against union political fundraising on capitol hill last month. If the GOP doesn't capitalize on union conservatives they are stupid. Personally I'd rather see them talking to private sector unionists than pandering to the public sector unions and illegal aliens.
UAW Member: Union Workers 'Need to Embrace' Right-to-Work Laws