Auto dealers across the Granite State are watching closely as Congress heads into its lame-duck session next week, hoping legislators will step in if a Big Three manufacturer teeters too close to collapse.

While reports from Capitol Hill late this week suggested Congressional Democrats would be stymied in any attempt to push through a rescue package, state dealers remained sure officials would find a way to resuscitate the struggling industry if a Detroit mainstay threatened to stop production.

As the sales manager at Banks Chevrolet Cadillac in Concord, Dan Tobin has a clear interest in General Motors finding stable ground. The company has warned that a shortage of cash could prompt it to file for bankruptcy protection.

To have GM fail would be bad, Tobin said, though he expects the 52-year-old Banks dealership would survive. But to have GM cease production would be unimaginable.

"They cannot allow General Motors to fail," Tobin said. "It would be a death blow to our country to let that happen."

Auto manufacturing creates employment not just at dealerships, but throughout a slew of related fields, said Peter McNamara, president of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association.

"There's a lack of understanding that this is bigger than AIG and bigger than the Lehman Brothers," McNamara said. "It will affect millions of people's jobs, not just manufacturers but suppliers."

There are 33 GM dealerships in New Hampshire, McNamara said. All franchised dealers of new vehicles in the state belong to his association, which has 500 members employing 13,000 workers, he said.

New Hampshire is home to a plant in Hillsborough producing Sylvania headlight bulbs. There are other auto parts manufacturers throughout the state.

But even more than jeopardizing a raw number of jobs in part production and car selling, turmoil in the American auto industry threatens the security of communities throughout the nation, dealers said.

They disagreed about how much impact a bankruptcy declaration would have on the local level. A few echoed the sentiments of GM chief executive Rick Wagoner, who told investors last week the effects of bankruptcy would be "dire" and extensive.

Ron Currier, owner of Ron Currier's Hilltop Chevrolet in Somersworth, said a Chapter 11 filing might have little impact on local dealers - as long as GM continued regular production schedules.

"If GM were to cease operations, it would be devastating," Currier said. "My 35 employees could ultimately become along the lines of the unemployment ranks. What's going to happen to their mortgage, their auto loan, their credit card?"

It's this potential for a chain reaction that dealers are emphasizing in pleas to elected officials.

Some dealers are contacting New Hampshire's legislators directly to voice support for aid to the auto industry. Tom Trites, owner of Trites Auto Dealerships in Wolfeboro, has written to Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. In his letters, Trites asked them to consider the industry's impact beyond Detroit.

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