Santorum campaign urging Dems to vote for him in GOP primary

by Josh Lederman - 02/28/12 12:45 AM ET

Rick Santorum’s campaign has launched robo-calls in Michigan urging Democrats to vote for him in the Republican presidential primary.

Michigan has an open primary system where voters can pull a ballot for either party. Although there had been speculation that Democrats would urge their supporters to vote for Santorum as a foil for Romney, who they see as a bigger threat to President Obama, there had been no evidence that Santorum intended to play along.

{mosads}But an automated recording obtained by the blog Talking Points Memo on Monday suggests Santorum is eager to get as many votes as possible in Tuesday’s primary — even if they’re from the party he hopes to defeat in November.

“That’s right, Michigan Democrats can vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday,” says the speaker on the recording. “Why is it so important? Romney supported the bailouts for his Wall Street billionaire buddies, but opposes the auto bailouts. That was a slap in the face to every Michigan worker, and we’re not going to let Romney get away with it.”

The recording does not mention that Santorum too opposed the auto bailouts. He has argued on the campaign trail that his position is more consistent, because he also opposed the Wall Street bailouts.

{mosads}Also absent from the recording are the typical references from Santorum’s campaign to Romney being a liberal.

“On Tuesday, join Democrats, who are going to send a loud message to Massachusetts’s Mitt Romney by voting for Rick Santorum for president.”

The recording says the ad was paid for by Rick Santorum for President.

Santorum’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation, but Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley told CNN that the campaign hoped to bring Reagan Democrats to their side.

“We figured if we can get them in the primary, we can keep them in the general,” he said.

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams called the move outrageous and said it would be Republicans — not Democrats — who would decide the winner on Tuesday.

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“Rick Santorum has moved beyond just ‘taking one for the team.’ He is now willing to wear the other team’s jersey if he thinks it will get him more votes,” Williams said.

Polls show Romney and Santorum in a dead heat in Michigan, which will vote along with Arizona on Tuesday.

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