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Michael Moore talks with Rachel Maddow about the people and politics of Michigan and why it's so surprising that Mitt Romney is having difficulty polling well there.

Michigan has been cast as a must-win for Romney, however, he is lagging behind GOP candidate Rick Santorum in recent polls. Romney has also been ridiculed for a speech where he declared his love for the trees, lakes and cars in Michigan, and then there was the commercial showing him driving around Detroit in a car manufactured in Canada.

Even Moore, a fellow Michigan native, empathized a bit with the candidate on Monday night. "The poor guy -- I just start to feel sorry for him on some level -- not too much," he told Maddow.

Moore praised Romney's parents,the former Governor George Romney and his wife - a former Senator - Lenore,"Mitt's father George Romney supported the civil rights movement. When he was the CEO of American Motors he took a pay cut because he thought CEOs shouldn't be paid this much. He came back from Vietnam after a tour there, and said we're not being told the truth. ... And his mom, Lenore Romney was [one] of the chief backers of the Equal Rights Amendment. ...it's mind-boggling to see who [Mitt] has become."

"Those of us who are 45 and older, we remember the Romneys -- even if you're not a Republican -- you remember them somewhat fondly," he said.

Turning his attention back to their son, "This apple has fallen far from the tree," Moore lamented. "It's just mind boggling just to see who he has become or who he thinks he is."