GOP Candidates Pander To Local Voters in 2012 Primary States (PHOTOS)

Mitt Romney really likes grits, y'all. Rick Santorum was practically the senator of Puerto Rico. And Newt Gingrich just loves bass fishing.

Pandering to voters by embracing local traditions is a time-honored election strategy. Starting in wintry Iowa, candidates visit local restaurants, profess their love for regional cuisine and generally strive to prove to voters that they're really not so different.

"I was bowling in Sheboygan yesterday with a bunch of folks at a tournament and threw three strikes in a row," Santorum said last Sunday. "That's a turkey. That tells you that you've got someone here who can relate to the voters in Wisconsin, just like those of us in western Pennsylvania who grew up in the bowling lanes."

Of course, efforts to identify with a state or demographic can also go horribly awry -- take Michele Bachmann's effort to play up her hometown Iowa cred, in which she ended up inadvertently comparing herself to serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Or Herman Cain's attempt to connect with Miami, Florida voters by sampling Cuban coffee and asking, "How do you say delicious in Cuban?"

Here's a look at some of the efforts -- successful or not -- made by candidates to connect to state primary voters:

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Comments

[elizabeth gerteiny]

02:19 PM on 04/02/2012

John Kenneth Galbraith, revered economist, ambassador and author said, "Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory." Not least among possible applications to this statement are real convictions and lasting loyalties.

If it seems expedient,
He claims that's not what he meant
Or will actually revoke
What he said, say he mispoke.

As a waffler, he's a vet;
Factually, forgets to vet.
When his prospects seem most bleak,
Aspirations up the creek,

That resourceful politician
Makes his foe his dearest friend;
Though he views him with suspicion,
Previous denouncements end,

Till more harshly than he should,
Shuns him for the public good.
Comments made in pundit speak
Oft are made with tongue in cheek.

Elizabeth Gerteiny
Author of The President Of War
www.bushandcompany.org

[Boomerst3]

11:27 AM on 03/31/2012

Are we sure Bachmann isn't just Palin in disguise?

[stape45]

12:32 PM on 03/31/2012

Impossible. Bachmann can speak in complete sentences some of the time. Palin can barely RECITE sentences.

[Boomerst3]

11:20 AM on 03/31/2012

Romney is an emotionless robot. Not a lick of personality and spontaneity

[gurukalehuru]

10:57 AM on 03/31/2012

""You're the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord."

Both battles took place in Massachusetts."

The battle of Lexington and Concord took place on April 19th, 1775. It was one battle.

If your going to make fun of the candidates for being stupid....

[kamachanda]

08:49 AM on 03/31/2012

If Santorum grew up in a bowling lane, I can only assume he was one of the pins.

[jenniferkizzy]

11:56 PM on 03/30/2012

in other america your country is run on dirty tianted money for the love of money see ya for the love of bank and capitalism bye

[jenniferkizzy]

11:55 PM on 03/30/2012

ok america a little finance lesson for you ok how do you take trillions of dollar's and make them clean once money is officially dirty money you can't get it clean what if you could put all your money in a trust fund no one could find the biggest world bank is in zurich so you can send your money too zurich they so cal clean it up for you send it back and there you go that's how many so called presidents get fund's for elections your elections like anything run in this country is run and funded by dirty capital for the love of money is the new motto right now capital run's the world and will continue too run the world see ya from a former no good nick bye

[flygirl10]

08:54 PM on 03/30/2012

a new movie--starring these candidates called--"Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest,Even Dumber and an Idiot"--coming soon to theatres near you. Check your local Fox News station for times.

[janmB]

09:06 AM on 03/31/2012

Bushisms was this hilarious collection of the dumbest things President George W. Bush ever said.....Now someone will make some money collecting these quips and statements via Romney.....

[flygirl10]

10:08 AM on 03/31/2012

I listened tothe Bushism collection--you're right--it is hilarious.

[rostriak]

08:52 PM on 03/30/2012

Worst gaffe so far - Santorum stopped himself in the middle of calling Obama the N word yesterday at a rally in Janesville. Watch the video starting at 34:30 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzyvo8SKa0M&feature=player_embedded

[karystos]

10:16 PM on 03/30/2012

Church lady was loud and clear...SHE went there

[sushigirl]

08:17 PM on 03/30/2012

The picture of Mitt eating something on a stick, I bet it's foie gras w/truffles. Ann has them in her Cadillac for when he needs to put on a show eating something.

[Licentia]

06:26 PM on 03/30/2012

Mitt Romney lies so much, he doesn't remember where he left the truth. But he's rich and white, which is all that matters in the modern day Republican Party.

[Judy Rauch]

09:19 PM on 03/30/2012

Very true a person has to wonder about these voters that a liar is gonna be their candiate and he will lie thru the whole election cycle and they will hold their noses and make excuses for him. Gee these GOP voters have no morals at all.

[OhMyDog]

05:15 PM on 03/31/2012

Not only that, the Repubtiles have no problem with a candidate stretching the truth or even outright lying if it's for the glory of the Party.

[GOP lies in harmony]

06:12 PM on 03/30/2012

I've never seen a full size photo of Bachmann with the corn dog, only smaller versions people use for their avatars. Gotta tell ya, I don't think she swallowed.

[Waiting4Something]

08:26 PM on 03/30/2012

She inhaled.

[kamachanda]

08:55 AM on 03/31/2012

She took that corn dog home for Marcus.

[amaboss52]

06:02 PM on 03/30/2012

Robme is a pandering pompous, fool, who'll say anything to anyone to get a vote.

[stacknef]

05:46 PM on 03/30/2012

I wonder if any of these pathetic losers ever says to his campaign manager...
"Dont ever make me do that again!"

[stacknef]

05:43 PM on 03/30/2012

bunch o' schmucks