by P.D. Lesko

Sometimes, endorsements can help a candidate get elected. Sometimes they can’t. Sometimes, a political endorsement can actually cause voters to be less likely to vote for a candidate. That’s exactly what’s happening in Michigan to Mitt Romney.

A recent Public Policy Polling survey conducted February 17-19 found that only 13 percent of Michigan voters said Snyder’s endorsement of Romney would impact their votes. A stunning 57 percent told pollsters that Snyder’s endorsement made absolutely no difference. Finally, among Snyder’s own Republican party 28 percent of those asked said that because of Snyder’s endorsement they would less likely to vote for Mitt Romney.

An NBC/Marist survey of likely voters in Michigan’s Republican primary released yesterday shows Romney and Santorum in a virtual tie: Romney has 37 percent support and Santorum 35 percent, with the margin of error plus-or-minus 3.7 points.

As Romney crosses Michigan bogged down by his opposition to the federal auto bailout, Governor Rick Snyder — who endorsed him in the February 28 Republican primary — is staying holed up in the capital as opposed to stumping for the embattled Romney on the campaign trail. Michigan’s Republican governor, who has been slow to draw a correlation between his public policy decisions and the fact that he has abysmal approval ratings, might have gotten the message in a round-about way.

At a recent press conference, in answer to a question about why he was not actively campaigning for Romney, Snyder replied: “I’ve got a pretty full schedule already. It’s more of a logistics question.”

Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, offered up another explanation as to why Snyder’s endorsement is really a whole lot of nothing. Brewer told Bloomberg News, “Snyder’s endorsement means little because he has no political machine to drum up voters.”