(AP) -- President Barack Obama is promoting the auto industry's successes, but the message has been overwhelmed by the weak state of the economy. Last week the president claimed vindication after General Motors' giant public stock offering.
On Tuesday, he and Vice President Joe Biden are visiting a Chrysler auto plant in Kokomo, Ind.
Both companies received massive bailouts from the government that saved them from liquidation. The states that comprise the midwestern heart of the auto manufacturing industry, however, have not been friendly to the Democrats. Republicans replaced Democrats as governors in Ohio and Michigan, took Democratic-held Senate seats in Indiana and Illinois, and won control of state legislatures in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
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