Just how much of a role would the government have played in supporting Chrysler and General Motors if Mitt Romney had been president?

As First Read reported yesterday, the former Massachusetts governor has worked to couch his opposition to President Barack Obama's decision to bail out the two car companies -- a decision which Romney, who was raised in Michigan, is being forced to confront heading into the state's Feb. 28 primary.

Democrats and the Obama campaign have made a big issue of Romney's 2008 op-ed in The New York Times entitled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," especially in light of the signs of encouragement in the auto industry since the bailout. He penned it just weeks after Obama secured the presidency.

Related: Obama touts manufacturing at Wisconsin plant

The piece, published as the automakers were facing a major cash crunch, called for what he dubbed a “managed bankruptcy.” He said the car companies needed to restructure their labor agreements; replace each company's management and rid them of corporate perks; and increase government spending on alternative energy and fuel economy research, which would benefit the industry indirectly.

Of direct government assistance, Romney wrote: "The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk." He stated, declaratively, “Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.”

Since then, Romney has spoken publicly about the bailout, essentially trying to take ownership for the successes of the auto industry's turnaround while decrying Obama's management of the process.  Romney argues that the administration basically ended embracing a variation of the strategy he originally advocated.

"The indisputable good news is that Chrysler and General Motors are still in business," Romney wrote Tuesday in The Detroit News. "The equally indisputable bad news is that all the defects in President Obama's management of the American economy are evident in what he did."

The separation between Romney and Obama on the issue of the bailout stems from two issues. First, Romney argues that interests of the labor unions were unfairly favored over some of GM and Chrysler's private creditors. The government-supervised bankruptcy did this, he argues, by allowing the autoworkers’ retirees program an equity stake in the restructured GM in exchange for providing financial support for the bankruptcy.

Second, Romney appears to differ with the president over the extent to which government itself should have stepped forward with money to help stave off liquidation of GM and Chrysler and provide for the restructuring process. The administration's approach did this in the case of GM by essentially establishing a new, restructured company in which the government became a majority shareholder. (Romney argued Tuesday for the government to divest itself from the company.)

Romney's position in the past has been that the private sector could have stepped forward to finance and more effectively manage the bankruptcy process -- especially in a way that would have treated private stakeholders in the companies more fairly.

The right-leaning editorial page of The Detroit News weighed in Wednesday:

But on the key question of whether the automakers could have managed themselves through a traditional bankruptcy without assistance from the government, Romney is wrong. The loans provided by Bush and then by Obama allowed the domestic auto industry to survive the darkest hour of its history and return to thriving operations today.

Critics also contend that Wall Street might not have been in the position to give that financial assistance to Detroit in 2009, as Lehman Brothers collapsed and global credit tightened.

But Romney appeared to add more uncertainty into his position surrounding the bailouts in an interview Wednesday on Detroit talk radio station WJR. Romney said that the government should have been available to step in and provide financing during a structured bankruptcy by way of a bridge loan -- the initial way in which the Bush administration propped up GM and Chrysler at the end of 2008.

Romney explained:

They needed to go through bankruptcy, and if, as part of that process, they needed financial help to get out of bankruptcy -- a bridge loan, or guarantees on sales of cars and so forth -- I said the government should be there to provide that. But the point was they took the wrong process, they wasted a lot of money, and ended up giving the companies to the UAW.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Romney would have pursued the exact path as the Obama administration for restructuring GM and Chrysler, but it does indicate some willingness for a more expansive role for the government during bankruptcy. Spokesmen for the Romney campaign didn't immediately respond to an inquiry seeking clarification.

But in addressing some of the political flak he's taken over the bailout, Romney added on WJR: "I don't imagine that anyone could think I had any interest other than to see the companies to thrive and survive, and that's why the original op-ed piece I wrote describes what I thought was the best way to get that done."

Sweet Home Michigan for Romney?... The contest there on Feb. 28 will likely be an inflection point -- the place where either Romney rights his ship or where it becomes obvious he might not be the GOP nominee… Restore Our Future and Santorum camp spar over the airwaves in Michigan… A reminder: Romney won the state in ’08 by just nine percentage points and with less than 40%... Quinnipiac poll: Santorum leads in Ohio… Texas primary won’t occur until at least May… More problems associated with Maine’s caucuses… A tentative deal on the payroll tax cut (but is it a done deal?)… And Obama talks manufacturing in Wisconsin at 1:40 pm ET.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event in Mesa, Arizona February 13, 2012.

*** Sweet Home Michigan? The good news for Mitt Romney as several national polls now show him tied or even slightly trailing a surging Rick Santorum: The next major contest, on Feb. 28, is in Michigan. But the bad news is the same: It's Michigan. Indeed, the state where he grew up, where his father was governor, where his mom ran for the U.S. Senate, where he launched his '08 campaign, where he won in 2008, where he's airing a new TV ad, and where he campaigns today could be the inflection point in this Republican nominating contest. Either Michigan is the place where he rights his campaign's ship and continues his methodical march to the nomination. Or it’s the place -- because of all the advantages he enjoys in the state -- where we all realize he might not recover to become the GOP nominee. (And trust us, if Romney loses Michigan, the GOP noise about finding a new candidate will become deafening.) That's what's at stake in Michigan two weeks from now. There’s no overstating the importance of this race.

*** Restore Our Future vs. “Rombo”: And given the stakes, the TV ads are getting more aggressive. The pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future is up with a hard-hitting advertisement against Santorum in Michigan (as well as in Arizona and Ohio), which charges that Santorum voted to raise the debt ceiling five times, voted to increase spending, and joined Hillary Clinton to let convicted felons vote. In response, Politico is reporting that the Santorum campaign is up with its own ad -- entitled “Rombo” -- showing a Romney lookalike firing mud from a gun. “Mitt Romney’s negative attack machine is back,” the ad says. “This time, Romney is firing his mud at Rick Santorum… Why? Because Romney is trying to hide from his big government RomneyCare and his support for job-killing cap-and-trade.”

*** What Gingrich never really had -- an effective response: This kind of response ad is worth watching (and seeing how much money is actually behind it), because it’s what Gingrich NEVER really had in Iowa or Florida. Meanwhile, turning back to that Restore Our Future ad, we’re not quite sure that Santorum is MOST vulnerable on spending and pork. Santorum’s biggest vulnerability might be that he’s simply too conservative (even for some Republicans) on social issues and that it makes him potentially unelectable in a general. But can Romney and his allies really go there, especially in a GOP primary? By the way, don’t miss Romney’s answer about Santorum’s surge this morning on FOX when he was asked if the two of them could envision running together. Romney said sure -- and added that he and Santorum actually agree on most issues; Romney said what makes them different are their backgrounds.

*** A reminder: Romney won Michigan in ’08 with just 39%: Here’s one final point we’re going to make about Michigan: Do note that Romney won the state in 2008 by just nine percentage points (39%-30% over McCain) and never cracked 40%. Yes, Romney was no longer the front-runner at that time in the race. And, yes, McCain had won the Michigan primary in 2000. But those results are a reminder that Romney might not be as formidable in the state as everyone thinks…

*** Q-poll: Santorum leads in Ohio: And Michigan isn’t the only state in the industrial Midwest that Romney might be sweating. A brand-new Quinnipiac survey of Ohio -- which holds its primary on Super Tuesday, March 6 -- finds Santorum leading Romney among likely GOP primary voters by seven points in the state, 36%-29%; Newt Gingrich gets 20% and Ron Paul 9%. Also in that poll, Obama leads Romney by two points in Ohio (46%-44%), Santorum by six (47%-41%) and Gingrich by 12 (50%-38%). And Obama’s approval rating in the state is 47%-48%; it’s actually the president’s best score in that poll in the past year, despite being upside down.

*** Texas primary won’t occur until at least May: The AP reports that Texas -- because of the divisions over its redistricting map -- will unlikely hold its presidential primary in April. “Texas was originally scheduled to be a part of next month's slate of Super Tuesday primaries, but the redistricting clash forced the state to reschedule its contest to April 3. With that date now all but dead, too, elections workers who squeezed into a packed San Antonio courtroom Tuesday advocated a new date of May 22, which could be long after Republicans settle on a nominee to face President Barack Obama.” So Texas won’t play a role in this GOP presidential race -- until it does. Consider: If a Republican decides to run for president at the last second, that person could plant his/her flag in Texas.

*** Remember the Maine! The additional news coming out of Maine -- that one county turned in its results on Feb. 7 but weren’t included -- is a disaster for the GOP and the entire caucus system. (And this news is on top of that other county that postponed its caucuses due to snow and wasn’t counted, either.) The GOP caucuses (in Iowa, Nevada, and now Maine) have really taken it on the chin and raise real doubts about the integrity of the voting results. And Nevada is lucky its outcome wasn’t close…

*** On the trail, per NBC’s Adam Perez: Gingrich travels to Palo Alto, CA…Santorum visits North Dakota, campaigning in Tioga and Fargo…Meanwhile, Romney hosts a rally in Grand Rapids, MI

*** We have a deal: Off the campaign trail, it looks like Hill Democrats and Republicans struck a tentative deal on extending the payroll tax cut, as well as unemployment insurance and the Medicare “doc fix.” NBC’s Libby Leist and Frank Thorp have the details: The payroll tax cut gets extended through 2012, unemployment insurance goes for 75 weeks in the hardest-hit states and 63 weeks in the others (versus 93 weeks now), there’s no drug test or GED requirements for the unemployment assistance, and there are no Medicare benefit cuts. In addition, the payroll tax cut IS NOT paid for, but the unemployment insurance and “doc fix” ARE. Those offsets, with a price tag of about $50 or $60 billion, come from government spectrum sales, federal pension reform, and a few billion from Fannie/Freddie fees. NBC’s Leist adds that the tentative deal, which could be inked as early as today, was negotiated by House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D).

*** But is it a done deal? Yet Politico reminds us that it’s not a done deal yet. “As of Tuesday night, there was still some selling left to do on the basic agreement — history has taught congressional leaders not to call a deal done until House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has had a chance to vet it with rank-and-file Republicans...  ‘I just can’t. I just can’t,’ Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said when asked if he would vote for a payroll tax cut without offsetting spending cuts or tax increases. ‘I gotta stand on principle. How can I criticize the president for his budget where he’s increasing the debt and deficit if we’re going to come here and vote to do the same?’ Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) was one of the loudest critics Tuesday night, calling the proposal a ‘welfare payment’ and saying he is going to vote against the deal.”

*** Obama travels to Wisconsin: President Obama hits the road today, giving a speech on manufacturing in Milwaukee, WI at 1:40 pm ET. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, per NBC’s Ali Weinberg, that Obama’s trip to the state “is his first to Wisconsin since the labor wars erupted a year ago, and comes at a time when the state has more wild cards in its political deck than perhaps any other presidential battleground.” And do note: There will be an official meet-and-greet between Obama and Gov. Scott Walker.

*** Villaraigosa to chair Dem convention: Lastly, the Los Angeles Times reported last night that Democrats have tapped L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to chair the Democratic National Convention. “As convention chairman, Villaraigosa will wield the gavel during the event in Charlotte, N.C., which opens with a festival on Sept. 3 and continues for three days of official business, including the nomination of Obama and his acceptance speech... Villaraigosa is one of the nation's most prominent elected Latino officials and envisions an active role in Obama's reelection effort. The White House, in turn, is counting heavily on strong Latino turnout, especially in battleground states such as Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida.”

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Mitt Romney is working to stress his Michigan roots and empathy for the state's auto industry as part of a new offensive ahead of the Great Lake State's Feb. 28 primary.

In a new television ad and an op-ed Tuesday in the Detroit News, Romney reminded Michigan Republicans of his upbringing in the state, while working to better couch his opposition to the 2009 bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler engineered by President Obama.

"I grew up in Michigan; it was exciting to be here," Romney says in the ad, in which he appears driving a Chrysler 300. "Michigan's been my home; this is personal."

In the ad, Romney also addresses the federal bailout of the auto industry in broad terms, asking, "How in the world did an industry and its leaders and its unions get in such a fix," while accusing Obama of having done "all these things the liberals had wanted to do for years" without adding specifics.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event in Mesa, Arizona February 13, 2012.

It's a sentiment echoed in Romney's piece in today's Detroit News, in which he expands on his opposition to the 2009 bailout.

The effort seems directed at softening some of the attacks directed at Romney by Democrats associated with the former Massachusetts governor's opposition to Obama's handling of the bailout, outlined famously in a New York Times op-ed titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

Obama and his campaign count the revivals for GM and Chrysler among the administration's greatest successes in its first term. Obama trumpeted Chrysler's early repaying of some bridge loans and improved balance sheets by both companies, although the government maintains a significant equity share in both automakers.

"Does anyone believe what Mitt says: that the American auto industry would be better off today if the president hadn't intervened in 2009?" Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod tweeted Tuesday morning.

Other Democratic surrogates attacked Romney for trying to soften or even reverse his position ahead of the primary.

"All of them are wrong," former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said of the GOP field during a DNC conference call Tuesday, "but for Romney in particular it shows that the man has no principles, no core."

"Remember, that was then and this is now. Then he said let them go into bankruptcy," said Michigan Rep. John Dingell, seizing on a portion in Romney's op-ed hailing GM and Chrysler's revival. "He is now finding that success is here, and he wants to rush out and claim success, and claim participation in that success."

Romney's opposition to the bailout does little to distinguish him from his competitors in the Republican primary in Michigan.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who's surged nationally versus Romney since scoring upset victories in a trio of nominating contests last week, appears poised to take a run at Romney on his home turf in Michigan. Santorum's on the air in the Wolverine State, and some automated polls (which aren't recognized by NBC News) suggest Santorum is within striking distance of victory in the Michigan primary, which Romney won during his presidential campaign of 2008.

Moreover, Santorum's position on the auto bailouts is virtually identical to Romney's. "I called for a structured bankruptcy from the very beginning," Santorum said in January on C-SPAN. "They could have gone through a structured bankruptcy. And the only difference between those two companies coming out of bankruptcy versus the bailouts Obama put in place was that the unions wouldn’t take ownership share of the company. The bondholders who were all in line under the rule of law should have gotten their fairer share of the company."

Former House Speaker Gingrich has also voiced opposition to the auto industry bailout.

Romney has homed in now on the treatment of unions as a main point of criticism toward Obama's handling of the managed bankruptcy. Romney says the president had eventually pursued the managed bankruptcy option Romney had preferred, but did so in a way that unfairly advantaged the UAW and organized labor over Chrysler and GM's secured creditors -- most of which are located on Wall Street.

"While a lot of workers and investors got the short end of the stick, Obama's union allies — and his major campaign contributors — reaped reward upon reward, all on the taxpayer's dime," Romney wrote in the Detroit News piece, in which he calls for the government to sell off its shares of GM.

But Romney's new strides this week appear more directed at responding to attacks by Democrats, not his rivals in the presidential campaign. The bailout remains generally popular in Michigan, and even some congressional Republicans who represent the issue are on record in favor of the Obama administration's support for GM and Chrysler. Democrats' attacks are meant to saddle Romney in parts of the Midwest where the auto industry remains dominant, and drive up his negatives both for the Republican primary and the general election. (Obama led Romney, 48 to 40 percent, in a January 2012 EPIC/MRA poll of likely Michigan voters, erasing an advantage that Romney had held over the president in 2011 polls.)

Those efforts to define Romney might be aided by Romney's own history on the issue, now trying to largely take credit for the path the Obama adminstration pursued after having pleaded for Washington to ease the path for automakers during the 2008 GOP primary in Michigan.

"The question is, where is Washington?" Romney said during that campaign, according to an account by the New York Times, specifically decrying new fuel efficiency standards for Detroit's Big Three. "Where does it stop? Is there a point at which someone says 'enough'? Or are we going to allow the entire domestic automotive manufacturing industry to disappear?"

ANN ARBOR, MI -- The White House insists that the three-day, five-state tour upon which President Obama embarked on Wednesday was intended to sell his State of the Union message, and wasn't directed toward campaign purposes.

But a speech by Obama at the University of Michigan on Friday seemed to undercut that claim, with its rally-like atmosphere and warm welcome for the president.

Prefaced by the University of Michigan pep band, surrounded by bunting and in front of an enthusiastic college crowd of about 4000, the President focused on his plan to expand college affordability.

He characterized most of the education initiatives he spoke about today as needing legislative approval, helping him to further the narrative of a "do-nothing-Congress."

“Now Congress has to do more. Congress needs to do more. They need to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling this July. That's what’s scheduled to happen if Congress doesn't act. That would not be good for you,” the President said to a laughing audience.

Along with keeping student loan interest rates low, the White House is looking to make a higher education tax credit permanent, develop a “Race to the Top” program to create incentives for colleges and universities to make tuition affordable, expand the Perkins loan program and tie the level of federal aid received by higher learning institutions to the affordability and value of that school’s learning experience.

“We are putting colleges on notice…you can't assume that you’ll just jack up tuition every single year.  If you can’t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down,” warned Obama.

The President’s words were met with cheers and chants of “four more years” the occasional burst of “we love you.” Ann Arbor is reliably Democratic turf, and especially hospitable to Obama. Washtenaw County was one of the few counties in Michigan in the 2008 Democratic primary to vote for "uncommitted" -- a de-facto vote for Obama, who wasn't on the ballot due to broken primary rules -- over Hillary Clinton.

Students in attendance braved a pre-dawn wintry mix and hours of security lines to catch a glimpse of the president, including one particular student, Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson, who was singled out for praise by Obama.

"Denard Robinson is in the house. I hear you're coming back, man. That is a good deal for Michigan," he said to audience cheers for the Heisman hopeful.

To one audience member who shouted "Denard Robinson in 2012!" Obama replied: "They're trying to draft you for president. He's got to graduate before he runs for President. There's an age limit."

HILLSDALE, MI -- Herman Cain brushed off a question about whether he plans to drop out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination, returning to a familiar refrain: his "9-9-9" tax plan.

Ahead of a foreign policy speech planned this evening in Michigan, Cain dodged a question about whether he plans to abandon his presidential ambitions after having told staff this morning that he would spend the next two days reassessing his campaign.

"9-9-9. 9-9-9. We're doing fine," Cain told NBC News upon leaving his hotel at Hillsdale College for his speech on campus tonight.

Cain's campaign has downplayed the reassessment, framing it as a routine examination of the campaign's trajectory.

"Mr. Cain told staff simply that, just as every time significant events occur, a reassessment is prudent," deputy campaign manager Linda Hansen said this afternoon. "A good businessman looks at the entire landscape before making decisions. He is, and has been, committed to promoting the issues and solutions that will make this nation stronger. Nothing about that has changed."