Santorum’s defensive debate night – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

And one thing was abundantly clear: The Republican candidates, particularly Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, thought it more important to punish unionized workers than to save the Detroit-based auto industry.

Both sought to defend their opposition to the auto bailout by arguing that the United Auto Workers union was central to the industry’s problems and that bankruptcy was the most desirable outcome because it would have undermined the union. “The UAW would have lost all their advantages,” Gingrich said.

Not a word was said about the sweeping concessions the unions made to save General Motors and Chrysler. And neither faced up to the economic chaos that letting the auto companies go down would have caused throughout the Midwest. No wonder President Obama is ahead by 20 points in Michigan.

Santorum’s defensive debate night – PostPartisan – The Washington Post