Mitt Romney thinks Rick Santorum’s latest robo-call in Michigan against him is "outrageous," "disgusting" and a "new low" for the Santorum campaign, but robo-calls have long been and are frequently used as a political tactic in the days before primary elections.

Shaun Dakin, who created stoppoliticalcalls.org -- a nonpartisan and nonprofit website meant to elevate political discourse starting with the creation of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry, said robo-calls are a "study in chaos" and a cheap way for candidates to get their message across.

"They don’t do them because they work," Dakin said. “They do them because they can.”

Dakin said voters receive an uptick in the number of political robo-calls "the very last days of election" and once the election is over they disappear.

"They are really onerous to the consumer," Dakin said. "The bottom line is everyone has a phone."

Santorum is not the only candidate using robo-calls during this year’s primary elections. (read more)

As Michigan’s primary approaches, auto manufacturing and gas prices are becoming a national discussion.

Although Michigan Congressmen John Dingell and Thaddeus McCotter, sit on different sides of the isle, they agree on the need to strengthening the economy and preserve jobs from the auto industry. 

Appearing together on Fox News, they both agreed high gas prices could mean the loss of some auto manufacturing jobs.

“Gasoline prices tend to go up and down like a yoyo. They will not help anybody. They certainly won’t help the auto industry” Dingell said in an interview with Fox News. 

McCotter, a Republican and former GOP presidential contender has endorsed Mitt Romney. He thinks the health of the auto industry will be “volatile” in Michigan’s primary. “It is going to be the preservation and promotion of America’s manufacturing base for Michiganders heading to the polls both on Tuesday & November.”

Dingell agrees. “Its jobs, employment and the economy. People care about these things and they are very much worried to see to it that what has been done to help the auto industry is carried forward,” he told Fox News.  (read more)

Mitt Romney loves American cars.

It's just how many he drives that might cause him a headache.

In an attempt to show his dedication to the US auto industry and his Michigan roots, Mr Romney let slip that he owns four cars, including "a couple" of Cadillacs driven by his wife.

"I drive a Mustang and Chevy pickup truck," he said while delivering a major economic speech to the Detroit Economic Club. "Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs actually. I used to have a Dodge truck so I used to have all 3 covered."

The off-script comment from the usually well-scripted candidate shifted focus away from his economic message, and onto Romney's wealth, a topic the campaign has repeatedly tried to play down. And for a man accused of being out of touch with everyday voters, his casual reference to owning multiple luxury cars only adds to that image.

A campaign spokesperson said after the event that Mrs. Romney owns two Cadillac SRXs, a luxury crossover SUV made by General Motors. The sticker price starts at just over $35,000 and tops out at just under $55,000 according to Cadillac's website. (read more)

Two new ads released for broadcast in Michigan Wednesday are hitting Mitt Romney for his opposition to auto-industry bailouts as well as his record on spending.

A sound bite of Romney stating, "Let Detroit go bankrupt," opens the latest ad from Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting President Obama.  The ad cites Romney’s record while he was in the private sector of profiting off investments in businesses which later failed.

Romney’s use of the phrase "bankrupt" echoes throughout the ad, as the super PAC hopes it will echo in the minds of voters come Election Day. A Quinnipiac poll, released Wednesday has the Republican presidential primary candidate trailing Obama by 2 points in a head-to-head matchup nationwide.

Michigan is where Romney grew up and the auto bailout affects thousands of people there. A NBC News/Marist poll out on Wednesday shows 63 percent of registered voters in the Great Lakes State back the government's decision to assist General Motors and Chrysler in the fall of 2008, when President George W. Bush was still in office. Forty-two percent of likely voters -- those who would vote in the GOP primary -- back the decision.

The NBC News/Marist poll also shows Obama getting much of the credit for the bailout from registered voters, 58 percent of whom say he gets a great deal or good amount of the props. Among likely voters, only 27 percent give him a great deal or good amount of the credit for the bailout. (read more)

Red, White & Blue Fund, the super PAC supporting Rick Santorum, is pouring another $600,000 into Michigan on Tuesday, just a week ahead of the Republican presidential primary in the state, an adviser to the political action committee told Fox News.

The money will pay for a statewide ad buy that will run through the primary. This is nearly double what the group is already spending on the air in Michigan. 

Mitt Romney obviously has plenty of super PAC money coming in, as demonstrated by filings released on Monday. But significant is Santorum's lead in the polls in Romney’s home state, and his advisers are trying to put the pedal to metal.

During a speech at the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday Rick Santorum said income inequality is part of the American system, and it should stay that way.

"There is income inequality in America. There always has been and hopefully, and I do say that, there always will be," said the former Pennsylvania Senator. "Why? Because people rise to different levels of success based on what they contribute to society and to the marketplace and that's as it should be."

Santorum explained himself this way, "We shouldn't have a society that has a President who envies or creates class warfare or envy between one group of people and another," said Santorum.

"We should celebrate like we do in the small towns all across American _ as you do here in Detroit. You celebrate success. You build statues and monuments. Buildings, you name after them. Why? Because in their greatness and innovation, yes, they created wealth, but they created wealth for everybody else. And that's a good thing, not something to be condemned in America."

President Obama came to Michigan to tout the success of the auto industry and the economic boom he says its playing in restoring the economy. But, in Detroit, unemployment remains high and while the big three auto companies continue to improve, they are not yet back to their old powerhouse-selves. (read more)