Poll: Do Free Subs Make Romney a Criminal?

Just when it looked like GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was going to shake away the Etch-A-Sketch brouhaha and start dialing his campaign toward a November showdown with President Obama, along comes 'Subgate.'

Word comes from our sister site in Wisconsin, that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has filed an election bribery complaint after Romney during Election Day in Wisconsin.

, the Waukesha County District Attorney’s office has launched an investigation into Democratic Party allegations that Roney doling out the free lunch meat and bread (it’s unclear if lettuce and tomatoes were involved) violates Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anything valued at more than $1 in exchange for a vote. Even without lettuce and tomatoes, the turkey subs are about $5 each. The subs were donated and not paid for Romney. 

According to the statute, a violation could be considered a Class I felony.

Romney has called the allegations ridiculous and volleyed back that the flap is a laughable political stunt.

Romney won Tuesday's Wisconsin primary by collecting 44.1 percent of the vote. Rick Santorum, the winner in Minnesota’s February caucuses, collected 36.9 percent, for a difference of a little more than 50,000 total votes. Only a handful of those voters received a sandwich.

and eastern Apple Valley during the Minnesota caucuses on February 7, collecting just 18.9 percent of the District 37B vote compared to 44.8 for Santorum. Results were similar for District 37A in western Apple Valley and Burnsville with Romney garnering just 19.3 percent of that total tally. Republican caucus turnout, however, was only a combined 828 people for those two local precincts.

Rosemount Patch is curious to gauge the local political barometer on this issue using our obviously unscientific poll. Will our poll numbers reflect along party lines? Will political differences be set aside to reach a non-political consensus? After you vote, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below. 

Would a free turkey sandwich sway your policy convictions and influence who would ultimately be your candidate of choice at the ballot box? Would ham make a difference? Is there solid legal merit to the bribery accusation? Was it a criminal violation? Is this another example of rampant political devisiveness at any cost? Is it laughable?

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