The size and urgency of the offensive speaks to the critical priority the Big Three place on the loan program, and the short timetable for winning approval. Congress will return for just three weeks, and if the loans don't move as an emergency appropriation, the package won't be taken up until the new session in January. Automakers are also mindful of election year politics. Both John McCain and Barack Obama support the loans. 'It helps that the auto states and the swing states in this election are one and the same,' a lobbyist says. The automakers are battling a longstanding hostility in Washington toward the domestic automakers, and the lingering perception that they are the authors of their own woes. Their counter is that the Big Three and Congress forged a partnership a year ago to raise fuel economy standards and transform the automobile industry with three goals in mind: achieve national energy security, reduce greenhouse gases and create the technology for doing both within the United States. For the automakers, the cost of meeting the challenge is pegged at $114 billion, one of the largest government mandates on industry in history. The direct federal loans will help them with the overwhelming research and development costs. But it's not just a matter of fair play. It could very well mean the domestic industry's survival. Since agreeing to the new rules nearly a year ago, annual auto sales have dropped from 15.5 million units to a projected 13.3 million. The loss is roughly equal to Chrysler's entire vehicle output. The federal loans would allow the automakers to retool even while revenues are falling, and would bridge them to an anticipated economic upturn in 2010, when a flurry of new models is scheduled to hit showrooms and savings from union concessions and restructurings kick in. Borrowing in the private market is nearly impossible for the automakers due to the credit crunch, and, when they can find money, the interest rate approaches 20 percent. The government loans would carry a more manageable interest in the 4 percent to 5 percent range, available over three years and aid automotive suppliers. Selling the message is somewhat tougher this week than last. Conservatives are blanching at a series of corporate bail-outs by the federal government, from Bear-Stearns to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. But the companies note the loans will be repaid and will shore up an industry that accounts for 1 in 7 jobs. The challenge is not just to secure the loans, but to get them with a minimum of strings attached. The worry is that a package moving through a truncated congressional session will emerge with conditions ranging from caps on executive compensation to even stricter fuel economy and emissions mandates. No one is giving odds on whether the automakers will prevail, least of all the lobbyists on whose shoulders the fate of the industry now rests. But given the intense effort over the past two weeks to explain the urgency of the crisis, Congress can't pretend not to know the consequences of not stepping up. Nolan Finley is The Detroit News editorial page editor. You can reach him at [email protected].