Michiganders getting an earful

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Mitt Romney and John McCain argued about their concern for the auto industry, while Mike Huckabee spotlighted his opposition to abortion, as the Republican presidential contenders campaigned Saturday before Michigan's potentially make-or-break primary.

Romney, seeking a rebound in Tuesday's primary after losing to Huckabee in the Iowa caucuses and McCain in the New Hampshire primary, made an impromptu stop at a General Motors plant near here after 200 layoffs were announced last week.

He pledged to make restoring the domestic auto industry — once the linchpin of Michigan's economy — a top priority if elected president.

"In some respects, Michigan is like the canary in the mine shaft: What Michigan is experiencing, the whole nation will experience unless we fix what's happening in Michigan and learn lessons here we can apply across the nation," he said in Traverse City amid a fly-around of the state.

Romney's criticism of Washington was a none-too-subtle shot at McCain, an Arizona U.S. senator who has said that some of Michigan's lost jobs are gone forever. A Detroit News poll being released today showed the race a statistical dead heat, with McCain at 27 percent and Romney at 26 percent. Huckabee was third with 19 percent.

McCain defended his comment during a raucous rally before 400 supporters in Warren.

"I had to give some straight talk," McCain said. "Jobs are leaving the state of Michigan. They have left and will not come back, but we're going to create jobs, we're going to create a new economy. This is the smartest technological place in America. We have the smartest people here. We can do it. We can create jobs here."

Later, aboard his campaign bus, McCain continued his criticism of Romney.

"Governor Romney says he supports the industry yet when he was running for the governor of another state he wanted to raise the tax on SUVs," McCain said.

Aides distributed campaign literature from Romney's 2002 race for governor in Massachusetts in which Romney proposed a 10-year sales tax moratorium on hybrid vehicles, as well as

reworking the vehicle excise tax to encourage the purchase of fuel-efficient cars.

McCain also mentioned a Detroit News headline Saturday: "Experts Back Up McCain's Jobs Claim."