Comedian Jeff Foxworthy to campaign with Romney in South

by Andrew Restuccia - 03/11/12 8:02 PM ET

In an effort to win over Southern voters, Mitt Romney will campaign with comedian Jeff Foxworthy in Alabama and Mississippi Monday.

Foxworthy, who is best known for his “you might be a redneck” jokes, will appear with Romney in Mobile, Ala. Later in the day, he will attend events in Biloxi and Richland, Miss.

Tuesday’s primaries in Mississippi and Alabama are a key test for the former Massachusetts governor, who is hoping to show he can win over conservative voters.

{mosads}Polls show that Romney, former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) are in a dead heat in Alabama, while Gingrich holds a slight lead in Mississippi.

Romney has said he is out of his comfort zone campaigning for votes in the South. But he has nonetheless expressed confidence that he will do well there.

“I realize it’s a bit of an away game, but I also think we’re going to pick up some support in the states that remain this month,” Romney told WAPI in Birmingham, Ala. last week.

Romney joked with a crowd in Mississippi on Thursday that he was “learning to say ‘y’all’ ” and developing a taste for grits.

On Sunday, Alabama native and Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs mocked Romney over those remarks.

“I wouldn’t normally give Republicans, particularly Mitt Romney advice, but as a Southerner I will tell him that stuff doesn’t really go over well in the Deep South,” said Gibbs on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.

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“I will tell him this, if someone says they love the SEC, it’s not the investigative body that looks into off-shore Cayman bank accounts, in fact it’s the world’s greatest football conference, so I hope he’ll sort of go with the flow if he’s down there,” Gibbs added.

Romney’s rival Gingrich, who has campaigned heavily in Southern states, predicted Sunday that he would top the GOP frontrunner to win both primaries.

“I think we’ll win both. We are campaigning very aggressively in both states,” Gingrich said during an appearance on Fox News. “As almost everywhere, you start a little behind because of Romney’s money and the length of time he’s advertising. And as you campaign, you catch up with him pretty rapidly, and I think we’re probably polling ahead in both states right now.”