The ‘sugar-high’ Convention will quickly fade from memory as Michigan voters now weigh their choice
The ‘sugar-high’ Convention will quickly fade from memory as voters now weigh their choice, Robert Moore reports from Michigan.
Now the race truly begins. The marathon has become a sprint. Both party conventions are in the rear-view mirror.And the best place to assess where this campaign now stands is not in the sugar-high environment of the Democratic party convention hall in Chicago but in a battleground state where this election will be decided.Michigan is one such critical swing state and there are signs that Kamala Harris did not change the fundamental narrative here.We have previously spoken to Arab-American voters appalled at Joe Biden’s Gaza policy and after listening to Thursday night’s speech, they remain appalled, arguing that Harris is also responsible.
Disillusioned Democrats are clear, she was vice president for the last four years. She was in the room when decisions on Gaza were made. Empathy isn’t enough.
In Michigan - especially in the suburbs of Detroit - this is a voter bloc that is important to both parties.
They are also bitterly disappointed that Team Harris marginalised and silenced pro-Palestinian voices at the convention.
Many told me that they prefer Donald Trump because he is straightforward with voters.
Many Muslim Americans accuse Democrats of wanting their vote, but then stabbing them in the back.And we spoke to other independent and undecided voters who say that Harris should submit herself to proper scrutiny and agree to do interviews.One swing voter told me that she was not impressed by Harris’ speech because the Vice President was just reading someone else’s crafted effort.Others say the outcome of this election will be determined not by Harris wrapping herself in patriotism and by her supporters talking of joy, but by economics.
The price of food. The availability of affordable housing. The cost of petrol. The avoidance of foreign entanglements.
The sense I have is that Chicago’s successful convention will quickly fade for voters and both Harris and Trump must earn the election by addressing hard economic issues.
Enough of the theatre and the oratory. Focus on ordinary concerns and acknowledge that joy only goes so far when the economic pain in the American heartland is real.
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