A Republican presidential debate in Arizona turned unexpectedly Wednesday evening to a central issue in the simultaneous campaign in Michigan: the bailouts of the U.S. auto industry.

Republicans Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Ron Paul (Texas) criticized former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for supporting other bailouts besides the assistance he opposed giving to General Motors and Chrysler, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program that gave loans to Wall Street companies 

"I believe in markets, not just when they're convenient for me," Santorum said in the first hour of Wednesday’s debate. 

"I held the same consistent position…I can say that with respect to Gov. Romney, that was not the case," Santorum continued. "He supported the folks on Wall Street and bailed out Wall Street and was all for it, and then when it came to the autoworkers and folks in Detroit, he said no. That is not a consistent principled position, I had one, I believe in markets, not just when they're convenient."

A Detroit newspaper editor is criticizing Mitt Romney's campaign for its selective editing of the paper's endorsement. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is urging its members to write letters to Congress calling for lawmakers to pass new legislation for transportation funding.

The business group has said it does not agree with all provisions of either the House's $260 billion transportation bill, which would tie infrastructure spending to increased domestic oil drilling, or the Senate's $109 billion bill, which is shorter and relies on more traditional revenue sources for transportation such as the federal gas tax.

The Chamber has said it is imperative that Congress passes a transportation bill before the current authorization for road and transit projects expires on March 31 and provided its members Wednesday with sample letters they could write to their congressional representatives.

"As Congress embarks on a new legislative session, I urge you to Make Transportation Job #1 in 2012 and pass federal highway, transit and safety legislation that, at a minimum, maintains investment levels before the current law expires on March 31," the Chamber's sample letter to House and Senate members says. 

A super-PAC supporting Obama is criticizing Romney in an ad in Michigan ahead of Tuesday's primary.

Three House Democrats urged President Obama Wednesday to consider releasing oil from the country's emergency stockpiles in order to lower gas prices.

The lawmakers warned that tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a 696-million-barrel stockpile of oil stored in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast, could soon be necessary to combat rising prices they say stem from market speculation.

“It is essential that the United States have an aggressive strategy for releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat the speculators capitalizing on the fear in oil markets and to send a message to Iran that we are ready, willing, and able to deploy our oil reserves,” the Democrats said in a letter to Obama.

“Signaling that the United States will continue to employ an aggressive SPR policy in the near term would send a strong signal to oil markets responding to the unrest in the Middle East.”

President Obama “fully appreciates” the impact of rising gas prices and is trying to ease the price crunch with expanded oil-and-gas production, the White House said Wednesday.

In a briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama is “very aware of the impact [higher prices have] ... and the anxiety [they create].”

Carney said domestic oil production has increased during Obama’s time in the White House, and argued there are outside factors that are contributing to the price spike.

“Every year, since he’s been president, we’ve decreased our reliance on foreign oil imports,” Carney said.

A new poll shows President Obama leading the GOP presidential field in hypothetical general-election match-ups in Michigan, in part because of the popularity there of the auto-industry bailout.

The latest survey from NBC News/Marist shows 63 percent of registered voters and 42 percent of likely voters in the state support the federal government's decision to assist General Motors and Chrysler in the fall of 2008.

Fifty-eight percent of registered Michigan voters gave Obama a good or great deal of credit for the turnaround of the U.S. auto industry, compared to 37 percent who said he deserved not very much or no credit at all.

The poll also shows Obama leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the front-runners in Michigan GOP primary polls, by margins of 51 to 33 percent and 55 to 29 percent, respectively.

In the survey, Obama leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) 56 percent to 28, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 53 percent to 31.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A New York Democratic lawmaker called the $260 billion transportation measure being considered by the House a "train wreck" on The Hill's Congress Blog.

Sen. Daniel Ino­uye (D-Hawaii) is basing his support for candidates running for Honolulu mayor on their positions on a rail project there.

A strike by workers at Frankfurt, Germany's, airport is continuing until Friday.

Nevada has approved "self-driving" automobiles on its roads.

Republicans are accusing the administration of exacerbating pain at the pump with policies that raise energy costs.