I'm a huge fan of Tesla, but GM/Chrysler wasn't just about the vehicles. It was about the employees, the economies in that part of the country, and the ripple effect that killing off American auto-makers would have had to every industry they touched.
I truly hope what Tesla is doing becomes the future of the American auto-industry, but the nation was in no position, at that time, to facilitate that transformation in a way that was logistically, economically, or politically acceptable.