“I believed in you. I bet on you,” Obama said. “I’ll make that bet any day of the week, and because of that bet, three years later that bet is paying off for America. The American auto industry has come roaring back.”  On the campaign trail, Obama has included the bailout in his stump speech in appeals to Rust Belt voters in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and, especially, Ohio, where the president has appeared 11 times this year. Democrats are expected to showcase the bailout during their national convention in Charlotte this week, showing a short film that features remarks from United Auto Workers President Bob King, according to the Detroit News.  But the tableau in Charlotte is complicated by protests from other unions, who are upset that Democrats chose to have their convention in a right-to-work state that bans collective bargaining agreements that require workers to join unions. Unions have contributed far less money to the convention than in past years, and some workers held an alternative gathering in Philadelphia last month.  Some union protests were scheduled for Monday in Charlotte.  Still, labor leaders, including King and AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka, were on-hand to help introduce Obama in Toledo. Last year, Trumka had expressed frustration with Obama for not pushing more strongly for a jobs program, but he grew more supportive after Obama used a Labor Day address last year in Detroit to launch a national tour for a jobs bill in the fall.  Trumka delivered a passionate speech Monday criticizing Romney as trying to pit voters against each other in an effort to win the election.  “What Mitt Romney is doing is wrong,” Trumka said. “Those are not the values I grew up with. What he’s doing is beneath the dignity of the American people and we won’t let him win. There’s something we should do about it . . . We should support President Obama because he supports us.”  Vice President Biden hammered the same theme as Obama on Monday, on his third trip in recent weeks to Detroit. He dropped in on the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO Labor Day Rally to again slam Romney’s stance on the auto bailout.  “Folks, you can’t say you’re going to create jobs in the United States of America when you’re willing to let 1 million jobs go under with the liquidation of the automobile plants that he suggested,” Biden told about 3,500 union workers, many wearing Tigers ball caps, firefighter helmets or American Federation of Teachers t-shirts.  Romney has said Democrats are distorting his position, explaining that he favored a managed bankruptcy and might have offered government aid after such a process was completed.  In a statement Monday, Romney said Labor Day is a chance to “celebrate the strong American work ethic.” But he added that with 23 million Americans unemployed, “today is another day of worrying when their next paycheck will come.”  Obama also visited a Toledo diner to have breakfast with three auto workers who say the bailout saved their jobs. At the event, Obama recalled his first automobile, a Jeep, as “bright and shiny,” with comfortable seats.  At the high school, Obama was greeted by a crowd that chanted, “Fired up, ready to go!” and “We are the 99 percent!” while awaiting the president.  Obama, in his remarks, obliquely refered to the battle in Wisconsin where Republican Gov. Scott Walker pushed successfully to limit collective bargaining rights and then won his recall election after union workers sought to remove him from office.  “When [Republicans] try to pass right-to-work laws, which really mean right-to-work for less and less. . . they hope unions like yours unravel,” the president said.  He also used an extended football metaphor to strike back at Romney’s remark two days ago that the country needs “a new coach.”  Obama said that on first through third downs, Romney would raise taxes on the middle class, roll back financial reforms and then call a Hail Mary pass by turning Medicare into a voucher system that could raise costs for seniors.  “I have one piece of advice,” Obama said. “Punt it away. It won’t work. It won’t win the game. You don’t need that coach. It’s a losing season.”  Krissah Thompson also contributed to this story.
The president told 3,000 supporters that he “bet on American workers” when his administration provided $85 million in government loans to General Motors and Chrysler in 2009.