Three years ago, Jim Chiodo stood in front of a couple thousand people at a tea party rally in Battle Creek, grabbed a pamphlet and used it as an impromptu bullhorn as he led the crowd in patriot songs until the tardy Tea Party Express arrived.

Today, Chiodo says with confidence that he thinks Mitt Romney will defeat President Barack Obama in a landslide.

Chiodo, a member of the Ottawa County Patriots, acknowledges the polls say it’s a toss-up.

“I’m not looking at polls,” Chiodo said. “I’m just sensing it. There is a line in the Constitution that says, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ Nobody has to tell me these rights. You just know it. That same ‘self-evident’ is telling me that we are going to see a landslide (for Romney).”

Chiodo sites several of the same things that many tea party activists say when asked why they think Romney will win: They haven’t seen the same type of support that Obama got in 2008, and there are far fewer Obama signs in the neighborhoods.

Tea party members from around Michigan said a Romney victory will be bigger than even any of the polls were projecting. The enthusiasm isn’t muted by a number of polls that through Monday had the candidates in a neck-and-neck race.

For the most part, they don’t believe the polls, which often don’t take account of tea party voters.

“Come Wednesday morning, all the newspapers, all the pollsters are going to say, ‘Oh my gosh. We were wrong,’ ” Chiodo said.

Ed Tomaszewski, of the Romeo Tea Party, predicted a Romney victory thanks to a groundswell of support from independent voters. He said he thinks Romney will win by 10 percentage points.

“Other people are feeling it is greater than that, but I’m kind of conservative,” Tomaszewski said.

Matt Kleifgen, of the Allegan County Tea Party, also said he senses a change from 2008.

Continue Reading:  http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/17926