Rallying for votes before Tuesday’s Michigan Republican presidential primary, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum visited the Holiday Inn for an event in Marquette last Sunday.

Santorum spoke to a mostly conservative crowd of more than 200 people. He spoke for about 30 minutes and also answered questions.

He began his speech with some jokes and discussed how he sponsored a car in Monday’s Daytona 500 race.

“I gave him (the driver) a little bit of advice. I said, you know what, you’re starting way back in the back. Stay back there for awhile. [Let] all the other cars in front of you wreck. And then run hard the last few laps and win the race,” said Santorum, associating the wrecked cars with the other Republican presidential candidates.

Santorum discussed how his campaign trail had led to little towns all over the state and across the nation.

Afterward, he criticized President Barack Obama and his economic policy over the past four years.

“This president has systematically taken every opportunity to take control of different sectors of the economy,” Santorum said. “Try to take your freedom, opportunity away from you and give it to people who know better than you how to run your life.”

Santorum also spoke about what he felt were flaws in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature legislation of his first term.

“You look at the reason I’m in this race: Obamacare,” Santorum said. “I’m in this race because Barack Obama doesn’t trust you enough that you can go out, given a level playing field and an opportunity, to go out and buy your own health insurance, to manage your own affairs, to decide what policies you want, how much you want to pay for it, what doctors you want to see, how much your co-pays are.”

After Santorum finished speaking, he took questions from the audience.

He was asked about his thoughts on a recent federal district court decision that held parts of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

“The Defense of Marriage Act is something very simple. It says this: states have the right to create their own marriage laws,” Santorum said. “I suspect that it is just like every other decision on this subject area; they just make it up.”

Santorum also went on to discuss the 9th Circuit’s Court of Appeals decision to strike down California’s Proposition Eight as a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

“This is what they said: Anybody who believes that marriage should only be between a man and a women is irrational, is without reason or rationale,” Santorum said.

Sarah Morrison, President of the NMU College Republicans, helped put together the event for Rick Santorum, along with the other College Republicans.

She said she thought Santorum’s visit to Marquette showed how much the candidate cared about the people in the Upper Peninsula.

“Trekking up to Marquette just to do a meet and greet with around half the population of a congressional district means Santorum’s campaign truly cares,” Morrison said. “Some may call it campaign strategy, but to the people of Marquette it proved the Senator truly cares and values their participation in the electoral process.”

Santorum answered more questions from the crowd, but had to leave for a visit to Traverse City. Before he left he said, “If we win Michigan, I’ll be back.”

Santorum finished second in Tuesday’s primary with 38 percent of the vote, while front-runner Mitt Romney finished first with 41 percent of the vote.