First Person: Will the Auto Bailouts Sway This Ohio Voter?

Ohio, a historically Republican-leaning state that's trending toward President Obama, is heavily reliant on the automotive industry. About 12 percent of the state's labor force is linked to car production. As Election Day nears, Yahoo News asked Ohioans who depend on the industry to share their thoughts on the bailouts and the election. Here's one perspective.

FIRST PERSON | I grew up in Cleveland. The city's fortunes -- and those of many of its residents -- were and are still tied directly to the automotive industry. After Detroit, the greater Cleveland area had been one of the largest auto-manufacturing centers in the world. It is still recognized that what drives the economic engine of the region.

Growing Up

I am now in my early 50s. I grew up in the shadow of the foundry and casting plant that made engines that went into Ford cars and trucks. We could hear and smell the plant even though we lived close to a mile away. We had pride that those big block V-8 behemoth engines that powered the muscle cars were made in our neighborhood by our older brothers, fathers and uncles.

My first job was up the street from the plant. I had to plan getting to work accordingly otherwise I would get caught in the traffic jam of shift change. Three shifts a day, 15,000 workers total. Everyone around me had a relative or neighbor who worked at Ford.

Changes in Fortunes

When I graduated from high school, I got a job as a tool and die apprentice. This was in 1978. My pay was now tied to the auto industry. We made small parts that went into cars -- GMs, Fords and Dodge products. An apprentice I worked with bought a Toyota. The journeymen were hopping mad about this. They had a strong sense of "buy USA, buy union."

Not long after this, we began to suffer cycles of layoffs. This was because of two factors: We were losing customer base due to downturns in the auto industry and, also, the tool and die industry discovered that if they sent blueprints to Korea via a new medium called email, they can have the dies built overseas and shipped here at a substantial savings in cost. Later on in life, after becoming a firefighter for the city of Cleveland, I could see firsthand throughout the neighborhoods. Giants like TRW, Warner & Swasey and Eaton Corporation that built fortunes in the infancy and boom days of the auto industry were shuttering their plants and devastating neighborhoods.

Along with the big plants, small shops that provided tools and products to these bigger plants shut down to along with stores, bars and restaurants whose life blood was the workers.

Romney or Obama

That question for me is still undecided. While it seems as though the auto bailouts have helped the Cleveland region, I also understand Romney's position. I had a ringside seat to the fading fortunes of a giant of an industry.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-person-auto-bailouts-sway-ohio-voter-163500516.html

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