Pat Dollard | Young Americans

The polls have Romney and McCain in a dead heat and all the pundits are saying Romney needs to win this to have any hope…

I think Polls and Pundits have zero credibility with a lot of Americans right now.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.— Republican Mitt Romney on Sunday asked Michigan’s electorate to vote its self-interest — and his.

Struggling to keep his presidential bid going after two second-place finishes, Romney focused on his Michigan roots and promised to do more to lift up the economically hard-hit state than rival John McCain. He also suggested another rival, Mike Huckabee, was the wrong type of Republican for the nomination.

“I will commit this to you,” Romney said Sunday, nearly yelling himself hoarse during a boisterous rally with more than 500 people at Lawrence Technical University. “If I’m president of the United States, I will not rest until Michigan is back, and I will bring it back with your help. Together, we’ll do it.”

Michigan has been reeling from the U.S. auto industry’s downturn; the state has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 7.4 percent.

On Monday, he was addressing the Detroit Economic Club and touring the North American International Auto Show to underscore his concern.

“Michigan’s economic worries should be America’s worries,” he said in excerpts from his Economic Club address. “Detroit can only thrive if Washington is an engaged partner, not a disinterested observer.”

Mitt Romney and McCain, the New Hampshire winner, were statistically tied in a Detroit News poll released Sunday, but Romney led McCain by 5 percentage points in a similar survey by the Detroit Free Press.

Romney has promised to promote a revitalized transportation sector with research dollars, better trade deals, negotiated fuel-efficiency standards and a tax-free savings plan for people making $200,000 or less.

“I’m going to fight for every single good job. We’re going to rebuild this industry, we’re going to make Michigan strong and a leader again in the world,” he said at Lawrence Tech.

Earlier in the day, Romney dismissed any suggestion he would leave the race if he did not win Michigan.

“We’re going all the way through February 5th. No ifs, ands or buts about it,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This is a race that is not going to be decided by a few states. It’s a race that I’m taking to the nation.”

He also questioned the viability of Huckabee, the Iowa caucus winner, citing the former Arkansas governor’s record on taxes, illegal immigration and prison commutations.

“This is not the kind of Republican that you’d expect to go to the White House,” Romney said. “This is not the kind of Republican that I think people expect as somebody who is going to lead our party.”