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"He's a moderate. He's not a conservative Republican in the true sense of the word," said Matt Walsh, a 36-year-old advertiser from Mansfield who sat with his mother at the doughnut shop. "That's why he played well at first. He won the voters in the middle." Romney was elected governor with 50 percent of the vote. His approval ratings, while never soaring, topped 50 percent in public opinion polls at times during his one term. But by the October before he left office in 2007, Romney's approval had dipped to 34 percent in a Boston Globe poll. With Massachusetts apparently out of reach, Romney aides are trying to claim his native Michigan as the campaign's home turf. But while Obama can bank on winning his home state of Illinois, Michigan is no lock for Romney. Romney, 65, was born in Detroit and grew up nearby in Bloomfield Hills, but hasn't lived in Michigan since he was a teenager. Despite Michigan being viewed as competitive in recent campaigns, no Republican has carried the state since George H. W. Bush in 1988. What's more, Obama and other Democrats have criticized Romney for opposing the 2008 federal bailout of Detroit-based automakers Chrysler and General Motors. Romney favored allowing the companies to go through bankruptcy without taxpayer help. Obama frequently highlights his decision to extend the companies a lifeline and their return to profitability as one of the successes of his administration. Still, Michigan is more within Romney's reach than for any Republican in nearly a quarter century. His family name, made by his father, George, once a governor and an automotive executive in Michigan, still resonates in the state. Romney also has influential contacts in the state, which he reminded voters about at every stop while campaigning for Michigan's GOP primary in February, which he won. Michigan also has trended Republican in recent state elections, including a 2010 GOP sweep of statewide offices. Detroit, the dominant force for Democrats, has seen its population shrink amid the auto industry's troubles, while its suburbs and western and northern Michigan have kept their GOP complexion. "The climate is much more ripe for a Republican victory in 2012," said Jeff Timmer, a former Michigan Republican Party director. "When you add to that he does have home-state roots and an established presence, it adds an element to Michigan that no other candidate has brought to this state in a long time." So while Michigan may also be a stretch, it rates higher than Massachusetts on Romney's priority list, according to former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu. Of Romney's chances in Massachusetts, Sununu said: "I wouldn't rule it out completely
-- even though it's No. 50 on the list."
[Associated
Press;
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