Romney and Santorum tied in Michigan heading into primary day

The final preprimary-day polls in Michigan show a real tossup of a contest, and that is bad news for Mitt Romney.

It can't be overstated how devastating a loss in his native state, where his father served as governor, would be for Romney. He still may emerge the nominee, but a loss in Michigan nearly guarantees a protracted nomination season in which Romney is a diminished candidate still seeking support from conservatives instead of sharing center stage with Barack Obama and courting the critical independent and swing voters who will decide the election in November.

Check out my primary preview on Yahoo! Finance's "Daily Ticker" above.

Read more coverage of the 2012 Michigan and Arizona primaries at Yahoo! News.

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