DETROIT -- The government's bailout of the U.S. auto industry last year sparked political hand-wringing about the end of capitalism and allegations that President Barack Obama aspired to be CEO of what critics dubbed "Government Motors."

But a year and a half later, many critics have retreated from their sharpest attacks, as the auto industry again turns a profit and begins adding jobs in communities such as Detroit, which desperately need them.

Mr. Obama's visit Friday to a Chrysler plant in Detroit was designed as a victory rally -- an "I told you so" event aimed at his Republican critics who had attacked the auto bailouts as government takeovers.

A feisty Mr. Obama was welcomed with loud applause by about 1,500 auto workers inside the plant that makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a vehicle he said was the first new car he ever owned. If his critics had won, he said, the plant would have been shuttered and dark.

There's no satisfying some, like radio host Rush Limbaugh, who this week referred to General Motors as Obama Motors. And the auto turnaround is not enough to fix Detroit, where 30 percent unemployment has ravaged the city like few others.

When it comes to critics who continue to condemn the bailout, the White House is not forgiving. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday critics such as Mr. Limbaugh were willing to forsake auto workers at the time they needed help the most.

The White House is eager to tell a success story ahead of the congressional midterm elections this fall. The president's Friday visit and another to a Ford plant outside Chicago next week are intended to tell that story more widely to potential voters.

The president started at Chrysler's Jefferson North plant, where the Grand Cherokees are built, then toured a plant that will produce GM's first electric car, the Volt. Both are churning out cars, adding shifts of workers and helping to keep suppliers in business across the Rust Belt.

"In the year before these bankruptcies, these companies lost almost 340,000 jobs," said Ron Bloom, the administration's top auto official. "In the year since then, 55,000 jobs have been added to these companies. If we hadn't stepped in ... most observers believe at least a million jobs would have been lost."

Mr. Obama made clear Friday that he will use the auto turnaround to focus the argument that his economic policies have created an economic recovery.

"Don't bet against the American worker," he said, his voice rising over audience cheers. "It's going to take some time to get back to where we want to be, but I have confidence in the American worker," he said. "... I have confidence in this economy. We are coming back."

In the cavernous assembly plant, many workers described a welcome morale turnaround from a year or two ago, when scared workers took buyouts out of fear that the end was near.

"The morale is different now," said Erik Williams, 38, a plant worker since 1994. "When you know you are on the brink, and you come back from that, it puts it in a different perspective."

Several plant workers said Mr. Obama deserves much credit for believing in the industry and its employees. "I've been here 16 years, and last year was the worst year of my life; it was terrible," said James Tiedt, 39. He said he almost lost his house to foreclosure last year but was saved by federal housing programs. Of Mr. Obama, he said: "He's the man."

In the first quarter of 2010, GM earned a quarterly profit of $865 million, its first since 2007. Chrysler reported an operating profit of $143 million over the same period. Preliminary figures suggest that auto industry employment in the United States may reverse a decade of decline.

The auto industry financing program, which began under the Bush administration, extended about $85 billion to General Motors, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. Those investments were justified by the Obama administration as a means of saving an estimated million jobs or more.

Today, most of the government money is expected to be repaid. In March, the administration estimated the program's ultimate cost to be $24.6 billion. Administration officials predict that the expected loss will fall as companies in which the U.S. has a stake grow in value.

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.