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Romney speaks to MSU, Lansing community members Saturday morning

February 25, 2012

Lansing — Mitt Romney gave a personal appeal to local Republican leaders Saturday morning, coming out swinging at President Barack Obama just three days before Michigan voters will decide his fate in the tightening Michigan primary race.

Speaking to Republican party leaders in a small, packed clubhouse on the snowy grounds of Chisholm Hills golf course in South Lansing, Romney spoke like a front runner as he blasted the president’s policies while only briefly acknowledging his neck-and-neck opponent for the Republican nomination Rick Santorum.

Highlighting his personal connections to Michigan, Romney argued the president’s policies have prolonged the economic recession and diminished horizons for future generations.

“This man is out of ideas, he’s out of excuses and in 2012 we’re going to get him out of the White House,” Romney said, warning the effects of allowing Obama to serve out a second term. “He would fundamentally transform America in ways we wouldn’t recognize.”

Among the items in his platform, Romney said he would achieve a balanced budget by going through it line by line and cutting federal subsidies to special interests. Romney also said he would return federal money for job training programs back to the states.

Although he only briefly mentioned Santorum, the two have been nearly tied in the polls after Santorum held a substantial lead in previous days.

“I think Senator Santourm wishes he could take back what he said,” Romney said of their interaction in the most recent presidential debate, accusing Santorum of making excuses for his voting record.

MSU Trustee Melanie Foster, who also spoke at the Ingham County Republican Party event, said she’s confident Romney would restore funding to MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams — Obama slashed more than half of the project’s funding in his most recent budget proposal — making him the best choice for the MSU community. She stressed personal connections between MSU and Mitt Romney’s brother, Scott Romney, who is a former trustee.

“We, Michigan State University, (would) have an ear to the White House,” Foster said. “That’s never happened in our history of 155 years … don’t discredit that.”

Romney also was welcomed by the MSU College Republicans, who had a table at the event.

“I’ve come to like him a lot more than I thought,” said Nick Sowers, a member of the College Republicans. Sowers said he used to be a Newt Gingrich supporter before his campaign began to deteriorate, and now has slowly been drawn to Romney’s ideals. “I think it’s good if you’ve had someone who’s been in a business role, not a career politician.”

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