What to watch for Monday in politics

Phil Pruitt

Monday is the day before the day of the Arizona and Michigan primaries, and the showdown stumping in Michigan between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum will be intense.

Romney's schedule includes three rallies, beginning with Rockford at 8:30 a.m. EST, then Albion at 12:45 p.m. EST and Royal Oak at 6:15 p.m. EST.

Santorum will be in Livonia at 9 a.m. EST, Lansing at 3 p.m. EST and Kalamazoo at 7:30 a.m. EST.

Santorum no doubt will continue hammering on how he is the true conservative who can relate to blue-collar workers, and Romney will emphasize that he is equally as conservative and, despite his success and personal wealth, can relate to the average guy. After all, as Romney noted on Sunday, he might not follow NASCAR all that closely but he does have friends who own NASCAR teams.

Ron Paul will be campaigning in the Wolverine State, too. He has a town hall meeting at 11 a.m. EST in Detroit, a stop in East Lansing at 4 p.m. EST and a rally in Dearborn at 7 p.m. EST.

Newt Gingrich, however, will not be in Michigan. He'll be much farther south in Tennessee, a March 6 Super Tuesday state. Gingrich and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson will hold a rally in Nashville at 3 p.m. EST. Also, Gingrich's daughters, Jackie and Kathy, will be on ABC's "The View" on Monday.

The National Governors Association wraps up its winter meeting Monday with a 10:15 a.m. EST trip to the White House to meet with President Obama. It's not an easy audience for Obama. Many of the Republicans in the group have said they're eager for the primary season to end so that they can focus on getting Obama out of the White House.

And then there is this: The Duggar family, stars of TLC show '19 Kids and Counting,' is available for radio and TV interviews in Michigan on behalf of Santorum.

Sources: Yahoo News!, National Journal, Associated Press.

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