Just chiming in here as a former Detroit News editorial writer, in my long ago youth…. The Mackinac results make sense even if you don’t say that Romney paid for the most people to come. He is as close as Michigan has to a native son in this race. His father George, as you all recall, was Governor. His mother, Lenore, remained active in politics through the 1980s. Ronna Romney, who must have been the ex-wife of one of his brothers kept the family name alive in GOP state politics for a decade. Also there is a large swath of more or less moderate Republicans in the suburbs of Detroit. They were all potential Romney fans even before the new conservatism.

But… the other longstanding Michigan GOP constituency is the hardcore Hayekian, Russell Kirk conservative network,  whose spiritual home is Hillsdale College. They are traditionally active in primaries out of proportion to their ultimate numbers. They may well be the votes for Ron Paul.