Todd Spangler

Detroit Free Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a 25-minute speech to a crowd full of younger voters, President Obama made his closing argument Monday for electing Democrat Hillary Clinton as his successor.

He called GOP nominee Donald Trump unfit to be president and said his administration's successes — including rescuing the domestic auto industry in 2009 — have earned him the right to give Michiganders advice.

"I feel I've earned some credibility here," a fiery Obama said to a crowd of about 7,000 at the University of Michigan baseball stadium that included Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh. "Plants that were closing when I took office are working double shift now. ...

"When I tell you Donald Trump is not the guy who is going to work for you, you need to listen," the president said. "Don't be bamboozled."

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Calling Trump "uniquely unqualified" to hold the job of commander-in-chief, Obama said to wild applause: "The good news is, Michigan, you are uniquely qualified to make sure he doesn't hold this job."

The president may be right: Despite no Republican presidential nominee winning Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988, polls, including those done for the Free Press, show Clinton with no more than a narrow edge in the state, as Trump — a businessman, casino developer and reality TV show star — has cut into an earlier lead by consolidating support among previously skeptical Republicans.

Trump is set to be in west Michigan again Monday night after holding a rally Sunday night in Sterling Heights, Mich. And Clinton, herself, was set to rally at Grand Valley State University in west Michigan Monday afternoon. If nothing else, the continued appearances of the nominees and their top surrogates -- including the president -- strongly suggest Trump could have a chance of winning Michigan, which, if he breaks through in other states, could be decisive.

Introduced by Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, Obama rattled off a list of reasons he considers Trump "temperamentally" unfit to be president. Obama also repeated his campaign line that the office is a place where you want someone of steady temperament, not someone who like Trump has made racist, prejudiced and sexist statements, suggested that America's allies need to pay more for U.S. support or intimated that other countries should get nuclear weapons.

Citing a report this weekend in The New York Times, the president said Trump's campaign advisers took away his access to his Twitter account in recent days, noting that he has used it to make controversial comments that have hurt his campaign in the past.

"If your closest advisers don't trust you to tweet, how can we trust him with the nuclear codes?" Obama asked, referring to the codes transported with the president wherever he goes in the event of a nuclear attack.

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While Obama, the first African-American president in U.S. history, could have been asked to go to Detroit to pump up the black vote, it was clear that his presence here was aimed at another audience — millennials. By some indications, younger voters have been slow to warm to Clinton, and Obama, with high approval ratings, is a key asset to winning them over.

He began his speech by mentioning Harbaugh and the fact that the university's football team is 9-0 and ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press poll.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good. ... I'm asking you to pull off another victory this week," he said, referring to the election. "You will choose whether we continue this journey of progress or whether it all goes out the window."

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A father of teenage girls, Obama also mentioned some of the Disney shows and cartoons some of those in attendance were probably watching when he was first elected eight years ago.

"I had a soft spot for Sponge Bob," he said to wide applause.

But Obama saved his strongest remarks for reminding the Michigan crowd that when he won office in 2008 the economy, and especially the American auto industry, were on the verge of collapse.

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His administration helped address the situation by putting some $80 billion into General Motors and Chrysler to keep them from liquidating. That rescue is widely credited with helping to save the industry nationwide and saving the jobs of thousands of automakers.

Trump has continued to hammer away at the fact that the auto industry has bled jobs in recent decades though last year it sold a record number of cars. The Republican blamed trade deals he would overturn.

But Democrats, including Clinton, have called for better trade deals while saying the U.S. cannot turn its back on what is a global economy without forcing prices up and making businesses less competitive.

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Obama made note of the millions of jobs created since the depths of the recession and growing incomes for Americans, saying Clinton would continue the trend.

"That happens because people in ’08 decided to choose hope over fear," Obama said. "But Michigan, all that progress goes down the drain if we don’t win tomorrow."

While he praised Clinton as experienced and steady, he criticized Trump for not knowing the "difference between Shi'a" and "Sunni," referring to branches of Islam.

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"It's a bad thing being arrogant when you know what you're talking about," he said. "But it's really bad being arrogant when you don't know what you're talking about."

Compared to Trump's rally Sunday in Sterling Heights, Obama's in Ann Arbor was a Democratic love fest.

No sitting member of Congress showed up for Trump's rally though former GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Holland, Mich., and Paul Mitchell of Thomas Township, who is running this year, were there. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., as well as Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell of Dearborn, Brenda Lawrence of Southfield and Sandy Levin of Royal Oak all spoke at Obama's rally.

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However, In the end Obama asked Michigan residents to give Clinton the same boost they gave him eight years ago as he rode to a historic victory.

"Michigan, I ask you to do for Hillary what you did for me," he said. "I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. I ask you to make her better the same way you did for me."

Follow Todd Spangler on Twitter: @tsspangler