• Kid Rock welcomes Ryan to fundraiser in Michigan

    By NBC's Alex Moe

     

    BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was joined by a very special guest tonight at a fundraiser in a Detroit suburb: rockstar Kid Rock.

    Michigan native Kid Rock, singer of the Romney campaign’s unofficial theme song ‘Born Free,’ joined Ryan — an avid rock music fan — and roughly 160 others at the affluent Oakland Hills Country Club here.

    “I was going to come out, be a little wisenheimer and say, 'Guess which one is running for vice president,'” Kid Rock, who wore a white fedora, told the crowd inside a ballroom on the main floor about his original plan “Then they would introduce Paul and I would walk out and say hello.”

    Ryan, the seven-term Wisconsin congressman, was not shy to admit he is a fan of the popular singer.

    “So one of us is running for vice president but only one of us listened to 'Bawitdaba' on the way over here in the motorcade with the Secret Service,” Ryan said of Kid Rock's breakout single to laughs. “I’ve been listening to Kid Rock for a long, long time.”

    While the campaign would not directly confirm if guests knew in advance Kid Rock’s presence tonight at the fundraiser within Bloomfield Township, where Mitt Romney's family once lived, one man did bring a large guitar to the country club asking for an autograph.

    Guests paid anywhere from $500 to $20,000 to get a glimpse of the congressman and Kid Rock. No estimation was available by the campaign for how much was raised. It isn't the first time Bob Ritchie — Kid Rock's given name — has appeared at an event on Romney's behalf; Kid Rock and his band performed "Born Free" at a culminating rally for Romney shortly before the pivotal Michigan primary. 

    Friday night’s event – the first of two fundraisers for Ryan tonight – followed a public campaign event featuring both Romney and Ryan in the state the presumptive GOP presidential nominee was born.

    Ryan’s first fundraiser in The Great Lakes State had its share of politics and attacks as well.

    He specifically mentioned former Democratic President Bill Clinton for the first time since being tapped as the VP candidate in an attempt to illustrate the difference between Clinton and President Barack Obama.

    “What we want to do is not just beat up the other guy and try to win by default, that is what President Obama is going to do. He can’t run on his record, he didn’t moderate his positions like Bill Clinton did, he went hard to the left.,” Ryan said. “So he is going to have to divide, distract, demagogue, distort to try and win by default.”

    And the harsh words for President Obama didn’t end there.

    “You know he speaks to people as if they are stuck in their station in life. As if they are victims of circumstance outside their control and the government is here to help them cope. That is cynical. That is not freedom," Ryan said.

    The Wisconsin lawmaker, who characterized Michigan as one of a “handful of states” that will determine the election, heads to the battleground state of Ohio on Saturday to campaign again with running mate.

  • After personal meeting, mystery musician rocks Romney rally

    By NBC's Garrett Haake

     

     

     

    ROYAL OAK, Mich. – In the hours before addressing several hundred Tea Party activists in Milford, Mich. last Thursday, Mitt Romney had another important meeting with a much smaller audience.

    In a suburban Michigan home, and in the company of senior aides, Romney spoke for an hour with Bob Ritchie, a Michigander of humble roots and a checkered past, who had risen to prominence in the entertainment industry. According to a Romney aide, the two men spoke for an hour – about Michigan, bringing back Detroit, and about U.S. troops overseas.

    “The other day I got in my car and I drove out to a home of a fellow that lives in this area, and I asked him whether he might come here tonight,” Romney told the crowd at a rally here tonight. “I think you know him pretty well. He’s a native son of Detroit, loves Michigan, loves Detroit."

    And tonight that meeting paid dividends for Romney. Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock – an often-R-rated musician known his off-stage antics and brushes with the law as much as his musical successes – performed a rousing rendition of his hit song "Born Free" at the conclusion of Romney's final rally before the polls open here in Michigan.

    Rebecca Cook / Reuters

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shakes hands with musician Kid Rock at a campaign stop for Romney's supporters on Feb. 27 in Royal Oak, Mich.


    The two struck an odd image together on stage, with Romney in a blazer and button-down shirt, and Kid Rock scruffy in his trademark hat, battered jeans and a leather jacket over a white t-shirt. The two men shared handshakes before and after the performance, and Kid Rock planted a hesitant kiss on Ann Romney's cheek.

    But somehow, it all worked, and the single-song concert roused more than a thousand Michiganders to their feet for Kid Rock (and for Romney), just hours before votes are cast in what has become a pivotal primary state.

    "Mitt, if you’re elected president, will you help me help the state of Michigan?” Romney said the rock star asked him at their meeting. "I said I would. He said, ‘If you’re elected president, will you help me help the city of Detroit?’ I said I would.

    "Then I turned to him, and I said, ‘By the way, given the fact that I’m willing to do those things, will you come here and perform a concert tonight for my friends, and he said he would," Romney continued.

    A Romney aide told reporters Kid Rock e-mailed Romney personally the day after their meeting to confirm he would perform at today's event. Since then, the identity of the final rally's "Mystery Musical Guest" had been a closely-guarded secret, with campaign staffers sworn to secrecy. Even the marquee here at the Royal Oak Music Theatre promoted only Romney, and an anonymous musical guest.

    Reporters speculated that Kid Rock might be the mystery guest. His song "Born Free" has introduced Romney at nearly every campaign event since December, and the two men's shared affinity for all things Michigan seemed to offer a bridge between their wildly divergent worlds.

    Tonight, with the politics behind them (there was a political rally here -- largely forgotten after the musical performance), Mitt and Ann Romney took in the performance from the front row, surrounded by Secret Service agents. They smiled and nodded along to the music, clapping to the beat and taking it all in.

    Tomorrow, Michigan votes, and the tune could change.