Romney says he cares 'very deeply' about auto industry Reporting from Kentwood, Mich. - Mitt Romney returned to his native state of Michigan on Wednesday, but it was hardly the homecoming that he likely wished for. Despite his roots here -- his father was governor for six years -- Romney is now trailing rival Rick Santorum in the polls. Thirty delegates are at stake in the Feb. 28 primary, and Romney, who beat John McCain here by nine points in his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, needs to do well to stop Santorum's surge. While Romney's campaign went after Santorum, arguing that he was friendly with labor unions while representing Pennsylvania in the Senate and the House, Romney did not mention him or the other GOP candidates competing for the nomination while campaigning in this suburb of Grand Rapids. Instead, the former Massachusetts governor reserved his criticism for President Obama and labor unions, arguing that the president has failed on domestic and foreign policy, in part because he is beholden to big labor. And he did not retreat from his opposition to the auto-industry bailout, a tricky position in a state where many believe the federal intervention was necessary to stop a total economic collapse here. Obama "got hundreds of millions from labor bosses for his campaign, and so he's paying them back in every way he knows how," Romney told several hundred people gathered at an office furniture manufacturer. One way, of course, was giving General Motors and Chrysler to UAW. He called out the president of UAW for saying that he was not concerned about the auto industry. "I care very deeply about the auto industry," Romney said. I want to make sure we have good jobs. Not just for a few weeks but for many, many years. I want the industry to come back in a big way. I've taken on union bosses before and I'm happy to take them on again, because I happen to believe you can protect the interests of the American taxpayer and you can protect great industries like automobiles without having to give into UAW and I sure won't. Romney pledged to require secret ballots for unionization votes, stop money from paychecks being withdrawn to support union political activities, stop the federal government from giving preference to unionized workers and other actions designed to weaken labor. Prior to the rally, Romney held a roundtable with local business people. They sat in front of two signs, one saying that manufacturing job losses have been in unionized businesses, and another stating, "The Romney Difference: Standing up for workers, not union bosses." Romney, who hasn't been in Michigan since November, is counting on getting some bounce from his familial connection to this state. Brochures handed out at his campaign events showed pictures of Romney as a boy and as a young man with his father, George Romney, and spoke about how the state was prosperous during his father's tenure as governor. At the rally, Romney pointed out people in the crowd with whom he attended high school. "I'm just delighted to be back in Michigan," he said. I visited every county in Michigan more than once, on my dad's campaign and my mom's campaign. I've gone to county fairs, so I didn't always see the best of each county, but I saw every county in this extraordinarily beautiful state. I love Michigan. I love the country. Romney recalled visiting Mount Pleasant for a Fourth of July event with his parents, and his father getting up to the microphone and declaring how glad he was to be in Mount Clemens. The crowd groaned. My mother tried to help and say, 'George, it's pleasant, it's pleasant.' He said, 'Sure it's pleasant here in Mount Clemens,' " Romney said, as the crowd laughed. So we make mistakes and we're not too quick on the uptake either.