Auto Plants Hold Answer to What Clint Eastwood Meant James Warren writes a column for the Chicago News Cooperative. Let's invite Clint Eastwood to the Chicago Automobile Show and see if a dumb argument breaks out over the role of government. The nation's largest auto show opened Friday, and the throngs will include political conservatives. Some were clearly outraged over Chrysler's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl ad featuring Mr. Eastwood, the Oscar-winning Hollywood tough guy and California conservative. They saw it as paying homage to President Obama for bailing out the auto industry. The blogosphere, talk radio and cable television were rife with attacks over that familiar raspy Eastwood voice heralding an auto industry comeback, bemoaning the many jobless Americans and chiding "the fog, division, discord and blame" clouding our ability to chart a course. "It was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of America," Mr. Eastwood said after the ruckus erupted, assuring that he was not in the political camp of Mr. Obama. But judging by my calls from talk-show bookers, critics won't leave it alone. So if they go to the auto show, they also should head to Ford's South Side plant and 90 miles northwest to the Chrysler plant in Belvidere. Ford did not take bailout money but benefited from an industry rebound, as underscored by Carlo Bishop, the president of United Auto Workers Local 551. He represents more than 3,000 members and a plant running two shifts a day to produce the Taurus, Lincoln MKS luxury sedan and Explorer sport utility vehicle. An additional 1,200 jobs will be created by mid-April, when a third shift is added to refashion the Taurus and Explorer for police departments nationwide. Mr. Bishop's Belvidere counterpart, George Welitschinsky of Local 1268, is sitting pretty, too. His plant employs 2,700 to make the Dodge Dart and Jeep Compass and Liberty models, and will soon add 1,800 workers. During dark days in 2008, 1,000 workers there were shown the exit. The two distinct successes - one without direct government help, the other with emergency aid from the Obama administration and Illinois tax breaks - speak to the real message of the Eastwood ad: a case for teamwork, investing in workers and smart government assistance. Yes, there was symbolism that perhaps fueled the ire of conservatives, whose rightful skepticism can turn into needless disdain of all government. The front man for the ad urging collective action and community was a cultural hero of theirs who portrayed the prototypical angry and alienated individual during the presidency of their beloved Ronald Reagan. He wasn't the fictional, merciless Harold (Dirty Harry) Callahan of the San Francisco Police Department. He wasn't suggesting that bailed-out autoworkers were leeching off taxpayers. He was espousing sacrifice and joint effort to tackle our hefty predicaments. They include mediocre schools, stratospheric pension liabilities, budget deficits, crumbling infrastructure and flagging economic development. There may be signs of hope. For example, officials of eight federal departments met in Chicago two weeks ago with Karen Freeman-Wilson, the Harvard-educated new mayor of Gary, Ind., and members of regional planning groups, including the Metropolitan Planning Council. The goal of the rare interagency gathering was to coordinate a way to help down-in-the-dumps Gary, whose population of 80,000 represents a 22 percent decline in the past decade. They seek to marry government, the private sector and nonprofits to revive the needy northern Indiana city and region, said Peter Skosey, vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council. Independently, Ms. Freeman-Wilson is receiving pro bono counsel from former Mayor Richard M. Daley, who knows about remaking a city. Meanwhile, Patrick Fitzgerald, Chicago's top federal prosecutor, spoke about crime at an Amherst College alumni gathering on Thursday and mentioned a regular meeting he attends of all the key state, city and Cook County law enforcement agencies to deal with notorious gang members. Any assumption about inevitable friction among the agencies is folderol, he said. They dissect their latest list of the top 20 bad guys in Chicago and constructively plot how to nab them. It's the sort of coordination that is lacking in Congress and state legislatures and what the Chrysler ad is actually all about. It's why a new Taurus or Dodge Dart will likely survive longer than many incumbent politicians, even in gerrymandered and seemingly cozy districts. If you go, enjoy the show.