Manufacturing is a hot topic right now—and the presidential hopefuls are talking about it every chance they get. In past election cycles, candidates may have been hesitant to discuss plans to revive a struggling industry.  But President Obama and the GOP contenders are now singing a decidedly optimistic tune about the job creating potential of our manufacturing base.

In addition to delivering a State of the Union address chock-full of plans to improve manufacturing, President Obama has also been touting manufacturing during more traditional speeches. For example, while speaking at a Master Lock facility yesterday in Milwaukee, WI, the president told the crowd that “manufacturing is coming back…companies are bringing jobs back.”

The GOP candidates have exhibited similar fervor in their overall support of manufacturing. According to the Washington Post,

“Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are focusing on manufacturing this week ahead of primaries in Michigan on Feb. 28 and Ohio a week later that will be crucial in determining the winner of the GOP nomination and the fall general election.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will speak to the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday. He is also expected to deliver a jobs message focused on his ideas to revitalize the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Santorum’s plans call for zeroing out the corporate income tax on manufacturers and limiting the tax on overseas profits reinvested in the United States.”

Want to learn more about what President Obama and the GOP candidates are saying about manufacturing and job creation? Check out the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM)’s candidate tracker tool, Job Search.