Romney rips Santorum for what he did himself

The pollsters are all saying today’s primary vote in Michigan is too close to call and Mitt Romney is getting a little testy about it. Mitt ripped into Rick Santorum this morning for trying too hard to win. Specifically, Romney criticized Santorum for reaching out to Democrats and asking them to cross over to vote.

The problem is, back in the 2008 primaries, Mitt defended his own crossover vote for a Democrat. Politico quotes an old ABC news clip:

ABC News’ Jonathan Greenberger Reports: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered a new explanation today for why he supported a Democrat in 1992.

That year, Romney, then a registered independent, voted for former Sen. Paul Tsongas in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary. He told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in an interview that will air Sunday on “This Week,” that his vote was meant as a tactical maneuver aimed at finding the weakest opponent for incumbent President George H.W. Bush.

“In Massachusetts, if you register as an independent, you can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary,” said Romney, who until he made an unsuccessful run for Senate in 1994 had spent his adult life as a registered independent. “When there was no real contest in the Republican primary, I’d vote in the Democrat primary, vote for the person who I thought would be the weakest opponent for the Republican.”

Of course it’s not exactly the same thing. In this case Santorum is asking people to vote for who he thinks would be the strongest candidate against President Obama — himself. But the practice isn’t uncommon, it’s not illegal and as the saying goes, “politics ain’t beanbag.” Can’t blame a guy for trying hard to win.