Sterling Heights , Michigan ( CNN ) -- Joe Cefali has to leave 10 minutes earlier for work in the morning because the traffic is getting worse . And get this : That makes him happy . `` You feel the rejuvenation , '' the 19-year Chrysler worker says of the mood inside the Sterling Stamping plant and in the busy restaurants and other businesses near the Chrysler and GM factories . `` Yes , we have a future . '' He was n't so sure in 2009 when Chrysler was teetering on the verge of collapse and Cefali for the first time had to file for unemployment benefits . He told his wife to prepare to move and began searching for work in Texas or Tennessee . Then help came from Washington . Romney , Obama both seeking advantages as campaign rolls on . `` Do you think you are working today because of President Obama ? '' I asked Cefali on Wednesday at his local United Auto Workers hall across the street from the stamping plant . `` Yes , '' he said without hesitation . `` If he did n't come through and give that vote and say , 'Yes we have got to save Chrysler . We have to save GM . We 've got to do this , ' all this Sterling Heights would have been gone , would have been dead . '' Support from union auto workers like Cefali is an advantage for the president in Michigan , a state Republican Mitt Romney had hoped to turn into a battleground . A new CNN/ORC International poll shows Obama leading by eight points , 52 % -44 % , among likely voters in Michigan . Romney and Obama split the suburban vote statewide and run even among independents . But the president leads by 11 points among women , by 54 % -41 % among Michigan voters from union households , and by 56 % -43 % in the critical Detroit suburbs of Macomb and Oakland counties . Both counties are dominated by the auto industry , and Romney went to high school in Oakland County . `` I do n't think he is one of us ... a Michigander , '' Cefali says of Romney . `` He does n't really relate to the working class . '' Barbara VanSyckel disagrees , yet she concedes that perception is widespread . `` He is a self-made man , '' says VanSyckel , the chairwoman of the Macomb County Republican Party . `` I do n't understand why people do n't see that as much . '' VanSyckel says Romney 's experience is perfect for the challenges of the moment , and she says her county 's recent phone bank work and neighborhood canvassing gives her a measure of hope . `` I believe we still can win , '' VanSyckel said Wednesday . `` People are interested in what you can do about the economy here . '' Michigan is clearly in better shape , but hardly humming . Romney 's remarks : Huge mistake or plain truth ? The unemployment rate is 9 % - above the national average . But it is down from the 11.3 % it was when Obama took office . Michigan has added 57,500 manufacturing jobs during the Obama presidency -- 34,000 of those in the auto industry . While the numbers might suggest to some a potential Romney opening , the trend line is helping the incumbent . `` The economy is on an upward slope even though the magnitude of the slope is very small , '' University of Michigan communications and political science professor Michael Traugott said . `` Barack Obama also has a reservoir of popular support or sentiment about him personally and views about how he cares for other Americans that he can take advantage of . '' VanSyckel said the president 's image advantage is , in her view , the obstacle to Romney making Michigan more of a battleground . Poll shows voters ' reaction to Romney tapes . `` I think he is not making himself look as real as when I have gone to his rallies , '' she says . `` He is pretty down to earth when you meet him . I do n't think he comes across much that way when you see him on television . `` He has been around it long enough . I think he needs to relax a little bit , '' VanSyckel said . `` Romney needs to differentiate himself . I think the philosophies are different enough . But people also want to vote for someone they like , and for some reason they do n't seem to connect with Romney the way they do with Obama . '' Romney 's son Tagg will visit Macomb County next week , and VanSyckel says she was told both Romney and running mate Paul Ryan will return to the state . But there are no firm dates , and Republicans here are well aware the Romney campaign is not spending any money on television advertising . `` Are we getting brushed off ? '' is how VanSyckel publicly phrased the question many Michigan Republicans are asking privately . Those party activists were upset when the John McCain camp pulled out four years ago . VanSyckel said Romney 's local roots mean activists like her `` are going to work harder for him '' and she hopes to get firmer commitments from the national campaign soon . `` Doable , '' she said of the prospects for a Romney comeback here . But she then added : `` We 're getting pretty tight on time . I look forward to hearing something soon . '' Opinion : Election winner faces a dangerous world .
Michigan autoworker credits Obama for his job at Chrysler plant . Autoworker support is big advantage for Obama in state Romney hoped to put in play . Local GOP chairwoman says Romney is the perfect candidate for the times . Comment: