LIVONIA, Mich. -- Battling for his critical home state of Michigan on Tuesday, Mitt Romney accused Republican rival Rick Santorum of trying to “kidnap our primary process” by getting Democrats to tip the very tight race in favor of Pennsylvania's former senator.
Flanked by volunteers at his campaign headquarters, Romney conceded that -- as recent polls suggest -- Santorum might win, and he pointed to his rival's robo-calls encouraging Democratic crossover voters to turn out in the open primary.
"I think the hardest thing about predicting what’s going to happen today is whether Senator Santorum’s effort to call Democrat households and tell them to come out and vote against Mitt Romney is going to be successful or not. I think Republicans have to recognize there’s a real effort to kidnap our primary process. And if we want Republicans to nominate the Republican who takes on Barack Obama, I need Republicans to get out and vote and say 'no' to the dirty tricks of a desperate campaign," the former Massachusetts governor said.
Romney encouraged volunteers working the phones to get Republicans to turn out for him instead. "We want this to be a process where Republicans choose our Republican nominee. We don't want the Democrats to choose who they think is the easiest person to run against," he added.
In Kentwood, Mich., Santorum was quick to respond, accusing Romney of having done the same thing in New Hampshire. “We’re proving a point that we can attract the voters that we need to win states like Michigan,” he told reporters while at the New Beginnings restaurant.
Santorum said Romney had recruited a high number of independent voters in New Hampshire and complained that the Romney campaign was doing its own dirty trick in touting Santorum's endorsement of Romney in 2008.
"You know what, I'm a big guy. I can take it if someone wants to go out and take cheap shots," Santorum said.
The dispute erupted as voters were going to the polls in Michigan and Arizona. Though the race in Michigan is considered a toss-up between Romney and Santorum, he was expected to easily win in Arizona. A Romney loss in Michigan would be a major blow to his campaign, which has been struggling to combat Santorum’s surge and appeal to party conservatives.
As he has successfully done against past surging rivals, Romney attacked Santorum's economic chops, calling him an "economic lightweight."
"Look, we have a large tent in the Republican Party, obviously. But I think what is most undistinguished in his campaign is his lack of understanding of the economy," Romney said. “And the reason that I think people will find him hard to elect in a general election, if he were to become our nominee, is that he doesn’t have the very attribute and skill that is most in demand on the part of the American people right now."
At his first press conference in nearly three weeks, Romney also acknowledged missteps on his part, without specifying them.
Recent comments in the last week about his Cadillacs or NASCAR owners fueled criticism that he is out of touch with average Americans. Asked if he understood such comments were hurting his campaign, Romney curtly responded, "Yes."
There has been speculation that if Romney loses Michigan, there may be shakeups in the inner circle of his staff, many who have worked with him since his unsuccessful 2008 campaign, and earlier.
But, Romney said, "I'm very pleased with the campaign, its organization. The candidate sometimes makes some mistakes, and so I'm trying to do better, and work harder, and make sure that we get our message across."
CORRECTED: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the restaurant at which Santorum spoke. It is the New Beginnings restaurant.
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