U-M vs. MSU rivalry: Romney no longer going blue

Is Mitt Romney a Spartan or a Wolverine?

According to his response today in New Hampshire, he bleeds, perhaps, teal.

“I’m for both Michigan and Michigan State these days,” Romney said on the campaign trail, according to a tweet from Associated Press political reporter Kasie Hunt, a self-described Wolverine fan.

But Romney’s non preference on the fierce in-state college rivalry wasn’t apparent earlier this year while delivering a key health care speech at University of Michigan.

Romney told the U-M audience in May he grew up a Wolverine fan and had some divided loyalties because his brother, Scott, went to MSU and served on its Board of Trustees. But he assured the crowd: “I have been a Michigan and a Wolverine fan for a long, long time.”

A spokeswoman for Romney did not immediately respond for clarification. But Democrats wasted no time pouncing on the Michigan native for flip-flopping. 

“He may be the only Michigander in history to go from being a longtime Wolverine to having no opinion about the U of M – MSU rivalry in just seven months,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said in a statement. “At the rate he’s going, I fully expect to see Mitt Romney on the sidelines of the Gator Bowl in a bright red OSU sweater vest.”