In home state, Romney makes stand against Santorum

This time, it’s personal.

At least, that’s what Mitt Romney said in his latest Michigan-centric advertisement, which began airing across the state Tuesday.

“How in the world did an industry, and its leaders and its unions, get into such a fix that they lost jobs, that they lost their future?” Romney says in the commercial, driving a car through a middle-class neighborhood that resembles Detroit. “President Obama did all these things that the liberals have wanted to do for years.”

Romney was born in Michigan, and his father served as the state’s popular moderate governor during the 1960’s.

The advertisement includes shots of abandoned homes and ‘50s era General Motors cars and is sprinkled with images of iconic city images like the Renaissance Center. “Michigan’s been my home — and this is personal,” Romney says, the commercial closing with old photographs of him as young boy sitting in (a presumably American-made) car, and as a young man with Ann Romney before they were married.

The advertisement was released on the same day The Detroit News ran an op-ed column written by Romney, which argued the Detroit Automakers should have been restructured through bankruptcy rather than a bailout like the one Obama pushed for.

Detroit’s auto industry has made a comeback since the bailout, which Obama has hailed as a victory for the state. Former President George W. Bush and Gov. Rick Snyder also have shown support for the decision.

The ad comes just after new polls show Romney falling behind former Sen. Rick Santorum — a loss for Romney in his home state would be a colossal blow to the campaign.

Meanwhile, Santorum also has two advertisements airing in Michigan.

Romney will speak in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, while Santorum will give the keynote address Friday at the Michigan Faith and Freedom Coalition rally in Shelby Township, Mich., on Friday.

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