ANALYSIS: GM's return may help Obama in Midwest

[Kadie]

ANALYSIS: GM's return may help Obama in Midwest

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press – 19 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Playing defense on the economy, President Barack Obama may have found a potent "I told you so" argument in the rescue of General Motors. But will he get any credit for it?

Obama visits a Chrysler plant in Kokomo, Ind., on Tuesday with Vice President Joe Biden, reprising similar trips he made last summer to GM, Ford and Chrysler plants in Michigan and Illinois. His stewardship of the auto bailout — begun under President George W. Bush in the waning days of his term — could weigh heavily on the minds of voters throughout the industrial Midwest. Obama picked up key electoral votes there in 2008 but recently watched states like Michigan and Ohio elect Republican governors and members of Congress.

General Motors launched one of the largest initial public offerings in U.S. history last week, more than a year after it was pushed into bankruptcy by the Obama administration at a taxpayer cost of about $50 billion. The rescue of GM and Chrysler was roundly criticized by many Republicans and tea party candidates who said the government should not have intervened to save the carmakers.

"Does anyone really believe that politicians and bureaucrats in Washington can successfully steer a multinational corporation to economic viability?" asked House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio when GM filed for bankruptcy in June 2009.

GM might prove Boehner wrong, giving Obama a stronger hand in the debate over how the government handled the auto meltdown. The bailout still remains unpopular with many Americans — and the futures of GM and Chrysler are far from certain — but GM's return to the New York Stock Exchange and an expected IPO from Chrysler in 2011 could give Democrats a vivid example of economic recovery.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_auto_recovery_1