One of the more puzzling aspects of this election has been the consistent Obama overperformance in the rustbelt. In 2010 armageddon looked imminent for the Democratic Party: they'd cratered in their working class strongholds and the only demographic groups that held strong for the party were African-Americans and the relatively small amount of highly educated urban professionals that lived in these states. Two years later and Obama is crushing Romney in these manufacturing heavy states. Why is this the case? Some people would point to the poor optics of Romney's campaign and his lack of appeal to voters who have a natural distrust of the elite executive class. Others point to a strong Obama campaign that has successfully utilized the success of the auto bailout to his advantage.
They've overlooked the rapid ramp up of industrial production that has taken place (chiefly in Ohio and Michigan)
