As Michigan votes, Obama speaks to auto union

On the same day voters head to the polls for the Republican presidential primary in Michigan, where the auto bailout has become an issue in this campaign, President Obama is set to speak to more than 1,600 auto workers at their annual conference.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has tried to be a thorn in the side of the Republican presidential field in the run-up to the primary. The two Republican front-runners, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, opposed the government intervention that Obama supporters credit with saving the American auto industry.

The union, a vocal backer of Mr. Obama, has hit Romney especially hard. The former Massachusetts governor, who was raised in Michigan where his father served as governor, wrote a 2008 op-ed in the New York Times titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" opposing any government bailout. Romney said recently that he would have changed his op-ed's title to "How to Save Detroit," but that has done little to quell the onslaught of criticism from the union, which has protested Romney's campaign events in the state.

"He is misleading voters about the president's bold and decisive rescue of the auto industry and about sacrifices made by workers," UAW President Bob King wrote in a recent statement.

Meanwhile, the union is welcoming President Obama with open arms to their annual conference in Washington, D.C., and has dedicated this year to re-electing the president.

King wrote to union members recently and said they have a "unique opportunity ... to re-elect President Obama."

"President Obama has been seriously focused on his jobs agenda since he took office, beginning with one of his first acts - saving the American auto industry," said King. "He stood with workers and the American auto industry, and the communities whose economies depend on the industry and saved more than one million American jobs."

Unions are considered a strong organizing force for Democratic politics and the UAW has more than 360,000 members and 600,000 retired members across the country, with many of those residing in Michigan.

Michgan's primary is open, which means that registered Democrats can vote as well. Some Democratic voters are organizing to vote in the primary for former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, seeing him as an easier challenger against President Obama.