MITT AND JEFF: Jeff Foxworthy endorses Mitt Romney at an Alabama campaign stop yesterday. (AP)
WASHINGTON — You might not be a redneck if you don’t know how to point a rifle or have only eaten catfish twice — but that doesn’t mean Mitt Romney can’t win over voters in Dixie.
Romney, looking to snatch a primary victory today in the South, stumped in Alabama and Mississippi with comic Jeff Foxworthy, famous for his routine that begins with: “You might be a redneck if . . .”
“I had catfish for the second time,” Romney told a crowd in Mobile, Ala. yesterday after dining with the governor of Mississippi at Jerry’s Catfish House Sunday night. “It was delicious, just like the first time.”
Romney’s campaign has snagged a long list of political endorsements down South, but the former Massachusetts governor decided to bring out Foxworthy, known for poking fun at his own Southern culture.
“I’m looking forward to hunting with you sometime,” Romney joked to Foxworthy. “And you can actually show me which end of the rifle to point.”
Last week, the Michigan-born and Harvard-educated Romney quipped, “I’m learning to say ‘y’all,’ and I like grits.’ ”
Even though Romney has called the Southern contests an “away game,” polls continued to show him polling surprisingly close with Newt Gingrich.
Today’s primaries would be a big win for Romney, but they are crucial for Gingrich to keep his campaign going.
Rick Santorum, meanwhile, is battling to prove Romney can’t compete for crucial conservative and evangelical voters, who dominate the South — which he claims would show Romney can’t be the GOP nominee.
“If the opportunity provides itself in an open convention, they’re not going to nominate a moderate Massachusetts governor who has been outspending his opponent 10-1 and can’t win the election outright,” Santorum said.
Santorum also fired back at reports that Romney called the former Pennsylvania senator too liberal to be his running mate.
“I’m too liberal?” Santorum said in an interview with ABC News. “This is the imaginary world of Mitt Romney’s ideology. It’s just sad.”
While Romney tried to press his down-home credentials, he couldn’t help another bout of embarrassing name-dropping when he was asked about quarterback Peyton Manning during an Alabama radio interview.
“I’ve got a lot of good friends — the owner of the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets — both owners are friends of mine,” Romney said.
The gaffe is similar to when Romney earlier said he didn’t follow NASCAR closely but knew team owners.