Dearborn , Michigan ( CNN ) -- Steve Bengelsvorf and Terry Flynn are chatting over beers on a hot , humid Wednesday night at Bamboozles , a Dearborn , Michigan , bar and restaurant , and a common pit stop for nearby factory workers . Both these clean-cut men sitting at the bar in polo-style shirts have a lot in common . They work at the nearby Severstal steel company . They 're nearing retirement . And they both have strong opinions about who the next president should be . But their politics are as different as their taste in beer . `` I 'm not for Obamacare , I 'm not for his immigration policies , I do n't particularly agree with 100 % of his economic policies , '' Bengelsvorf said . For the record , he 's a Bud Light guy -- and a Mitt Romney supporter . `` We ca n't go further into debt , and Obama is putting us further and further into debt by all these stimulus plans . '' Flynn , a Miller Lite guy , supports President Barack Obama . If it were n't for the Obama-backed health care law , Flynn said his friend 's unemployed son ( a recent college graduate ) would n't have health insurance coverage . CNN Poll : Health care ruling has not impacted race for White House , so far . When it comes to the economy , Flynn admits it 's taking too long to recover from the recession . But he said that `` going back to the policies that got us into this mess is not the direction we want to go . '' Severstal supplies steel to the big three automakers -- Ford , General Motors and Chrysler -- so Flynn 's and Bengelsvorf 's jobs are tied to the auto industry . Both agree on one thing : The $ 80 billion federal bailout of the auto industry was good for their jobs . Still , Bengelsvorf looks at it through broader lens . At one point he said , `` The other side of me says you do n't bail out a company that 's going bankrupt . '' These two friends epitomize what we found when hitting the road in the Rust Belt . CNN took the pulse of voters in auto towns in Wisconsin , Indiana , Michigan and Ohio -- important states that could make or break Election Day for Obama and Romney . In 2008 , Obama captured all four states . But this year Indiana is leaning toward Romney -- and Ohio is a tossup . In the 12 elections between 1964 and 2008 no presidential candidate has won without winning Ohio . This year Ohio has about 30,000 fewer auto manufacturing jobs than it did in 2007 . Michigan has 50,000 fewer automaking jobs . On the bright side , Michigan and Ohio , respectively , have seen the nation 's biggest percentage declines in unemployment over the past two years . Make no mistake , these four states hold keys to the White House because all together they have 55 of 270 electoral votes needed to win . As Obama makes a second journey down the campaign trail , he 's touting the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler -- and you can bet he 'll continue to do so . Romney , the presumptive Republican presidential nominee , opposed the bailout and pushed for a privately financed , managed bankruptcy of the two automakers . Watch : Politics in a former GM town . During a stop at the Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery in Kokomo , Indiana , a lot of folks with auto industry ties wanted to talk politics , including Cliff Pitcher and his friend DeWayne Bates . Just like in Michigan -- these two auto-industry friends are not supporting the same candidate . Bates does n't think the president deserves another four years . Pitcher does . `` Mitt Romney , I like his economical experience and his business experience , and I think that would help get our country job growth and help us get back on our feet , '' said Bates , a retired Chrysler millwright . Pitcher , an electrician at one of four Kokomo Chrysler plants , counters , `` Romney might be able to create jobs , but they 're gon na pay $ 7 or $ 8 an hour and you know ... I ca n't support my family on $ 7 or $ 8 with no benefits . Numbers do n't mean anything in the creation of jobs if they 're not quality jobs . '' As a member of the autoworkers ' union that traditionally skews Democratic , Bates said he feels like his support for Romney puts him in the minority . But other union autoworkers spoke out who take issue with Obama 's economic policies -- particularly the auto bailout -- and are throwing their support behind Romney . Among them are Brian Pannebecker , who has worked at a Ford factory in Sterling Heights , Michigan , for 16 years . In Pannebecker 's view , Obama should n't have bailed out the industry . His company , Ford , did not take a bailout . `` What I object to is all of the taxpayer dollars that were used , '' Pannebecker said . `` I think markets need to be allowed to work . And there were some fundamental problems that GM and Chrysler had that really were of their own making . '' Just a few miles away from Pannebecker , electrician Stacy Steward stood in blistering 95-degree heat across the street from the Chrysler plant where she had just finished a long day 's work . After being laid off from Chrysler in 2008 and out of work for 17 months , she said she was rehired one month after the auto bailout . CNN Poll : Economic optimism jumping . `` The Big Three support the entire state of Michigan , '' Steward said . `` The auto loans did n't just help Chrysler and GM ; the auto loan also helped all of our suppliers . It helped all the small businesses in the areas . It helped the citizens . '' Throughout this road trip in every town we visited -- large or small -- autoworkers expressed countless combinations of opinions about the state of the economy and the political direction of the nation . Come November , after all the stump speeches across the Rust Belt are said and done , many of these folks will cast their votes , hoping their candidate will take the nation 's highest office . Some will get their way -- and others wo n't . No doubt it will be fascinating to watch . CNN Electoral Map . Read more on 2012 at CNNpolitics.com . Watch CNN Newsroom weekdays 9am to 3pm ET and weekends . For the latest from the CNN Newsroom click here .
Autoworkers in key Rust Belt states fight over industry bailout . CNN talks to workers during road trip across Wisconsin , Indiana , Michigan and Ohio . President Barack Obama is ` ` driving us further into poverty , '' one worker says . Another worker says he fears Mitt Romney wo n't be able to create high - paying jobs .