Battleground states, looking at the key states that could play a crucial role in this years election. We turn our attention to the state of michigan, and we begin with Detroit Free Press washington correspondent Todd Spangler. Where do things stand right now in the state of michigan . s leadlooks like riding in michigan is still pretty solid looks like bidens lead in michigan is still pretty solid. The last one had him at eight points up. Looks like he is doing well. Not as big a lead as it was a month or so ago. Host why has he lost that edge . Guest frankly, as we get closer to the election, we always expected a tightening of the race. During the summer, the height of the black lives matter protests and some of the actions being taken by the administration, that number balloons, at one point as high as 16. We expected it to come down. Considering an election the four years ago trump won michigan by. 2 , eight is still a pretty big number. We expect it to come back down and narrow even more before the election. Campaigns are the two focusing on . What issues are they finding works in the state of michigan . Guest it is michigan, so both sides want to talk about auto production. At a rally recently outside saginaw, the president came in and made a bunch of really wild claims about revitalizing the Auto Industry, about opening tons of new plants. That has not happened. Even before covid, auto employment in michigan, manufacturing in michigan, was down slightly from where it was when he took office. I do not think the Auto Industry was doing badly precovid, but it is cyclical, going through changes. Warren, michigan, about two weeks ago, also talking about an auto plan. He said he can create new jobs by encouraging the transfer to electric cars, hybrids. That move is already underway. There are a lot of new models coming out that are electric, hybrid, in the next few years. They are both making that kind of message. On the negative side, obviously, biden is trying to hit trump hard on his handling of coronavirus. We had a big spike in michigan back in march, april, trying to hit on that. Governor whitmer and trump have sparred over this issue over and over again. Health care generally has been a big issue for biden and the democrats and will continue to be, with the argument that the Trump Administration are not serious about protecting preexisting conditions. They areump side, really trying to hammer home bidens support in the 1990s for nafta. Nafta is blamed in michigan for a lot of jobless in manufacturing and the Auto Industry through the 1990s, through the 2000s, and had long been looked at something that hurt the economy and hurt manufacturing. Trump did succeed in renegotiating nafta in the new deal with canada and mexico. We have yet to see whether that will pay dividends. Amocrats had been calling for renegotiation of nafta, including biden, for a long time. Took a republican president to push that through. There were a lot of republicans opposed to that you no longer are. It did happen. Democrats played a key role in changing that negotiation, making sure that mexico would live up to some more environmental concerns, labor concerns. But trump is hitting by the heart with that nafta message in michigan. Host where does and with which voters does the Supreme Court vacancy resonate in michigan . Guest sure. Very activee is a antiabortion, Prolife Movement in michigan, without question. Those voters are out there. President trump already had those voters. Little question about that. The real question in michigan is going to be whether or not a ish to seat a justice who is goingrly prolife white,e hurt him with noncollege women who actually might support him otherwise who are prochoice and believe in abortion rights. There is some evidence that it could. Now whether or not this becomes if it becomes an election about the Supreme Court, in michigan, given certain democrats among suburban women, particularly, among women of color, that is going to really ramp up enthusiasm to vote against donald trump, even if they get this done before then. Even more so, because there is going to be a feeling that in the senate and in the congress, if something can be done legislatively to enshrine those rights and take other actions, that will overwhelm the supreme conservative63 majority. I think that will help the democrats in a state like michigan. Todd spangler, how much time or each of the candidates spending in michigan, and how much money are they spending . Guest in terms of money, the Trump Campaign really just turned back on the spigot for ads. Here through the mother of august, they were basically dark, leaving it to outside groups to handle here through the month of august, they were basically dark. But they are spending and trying to make a play for michigan, without question. President trump had a rally outside saginaw about a week or so ago. Rally, flew in on air force one. Biden himself went to warren. Those have been the only two trips we have seen recently from the candidates themselves. Both have been sending surrogates in. Senator harris was in for the Biden Campaign. Jill biden going up north to Traverse City here in the next few days. The Trump Campaign had some numbers of the president s family. Singer, artist who supported trump in the past, he said he was considering a run for the u. S. Senate two years ago. He did not run. He was at a rally. We expect more things like that. From keynotesee candidates again. President trump ended the 2016 campaign in grand rapids. It was an Early Morning election day rally, which was wildly attended in grand rapids and he ended up winning the state and was in michigan twice the we can leading up to the election. We certainly expect him to be back. We also expect biden to be back. But will we see them as much as we might if michigan were a two or threepoint state, that remains to be seen. Host you can follow Todd Spanglers reporting in the Detroit Free Press. You can also follow him on twitter. Thank you very much for your time. Guest thanks for having me. Host we will dig deeper into the state of michigan with Political Science professor at Oakland University david dulio, author of michigan Government Politics and policy. Ulio, 2016, the president won narrowly. Where did he win, and how did he get the victory in the wolverine state . Guest when the difference in the margin in 2016 was less than 11,000 votes, you can find that margin in a lot of different places across our state, and i will point you to a few. One is simple, turnout. And that is for places where well,icans generally do turnout was up. In michigan, we would refer to those places as up north. So if you drew a line sort of halfway down the lower peninsula, everything north of that is up north, strong republican territory. Not many voters up there. Romneys improved on vote totals, and turnout was up sometimes 3, 4, 5 points in some of those counties. On the flipside, in wayne county, home of detroit, turnout was mainly flat. But in that county, Hillary Clinton received 80,000 fewer votes than barack obama did just four years before. So democrats in wayne county simply did not show up for Hillary Clinton. Another factor is and i think that your viewers should hone in on this in the next six weeks or so places like Macomb County, michigan, made famous 40 years thein the 1980s with reagan democrats, individuals who considered themselves democrats but voted for Ronald Reagan because they liked his stances on some particular issues but generally liked his demeanor, thought he was tough, thought he stood up for the little guy. And trump had Great Success with those folks in Macomb County, bluecollar workers, union workers, and in that county long, trump got 35,000 more votes than mitt romney did just four years before, and clinton got 30 5000 fewer votes than obama did. Does that mean that there are 35,000 people in Macomb County that voted for obama and that voted for trump . No. But 5000, 6000, 7000 . Sure. The rest is created in turnout differences. Some of those obama voters did not show up, and trump brought out some voters that had not voted before. Guest you mention some who voted for president obama and switched and voted for President Trump. Are they up for grabs this time around . Guest that is a great question, and i think that is one of the outstanding questions, one of the uncertain questions that remains here in michigan, to see if trump can repeat the coalition of voters that he put together in 2016. And i think some of them certainly are still with him. Trumps base is, as you know, heavily white workingclass folks, and that is not the only folks that vote for donald trump, of course. But in places like Macomb County, saginaw county, those are two of the 12 counties that had pluralities vote for obama and then vote for trump in 2016. Those folks are still with the president. His strength in the base of white workingclass voters is incredibly strong here in michigan. Then whatd dulio, does Vice President need to do differently than Hillary Clinton . You touched on it a little bit. And do you see signs at the campaign is doing that . Guest sure, i would point to a couple different factors. Trumpsry to hold down advantage in places like Macomb County. In your conversation with Todd Spangler, he mentioned joe biden was in warren just a couple weeks ago. That is an attempt to try to eat into trumps lead in those kinds of areas. And couple that with increasing turnout in wayne county, specifically the city of detroit, that can put biden in a really strong position come november 3. Again, it is no surprise to see senator harris visit the city of detroit in the last couple of days. And those are things that Hillary Clinton never did in 2016. That campaign made a terrible mistake strategically by really ignoring the state of michigan until the very last minute, and by then it was too late. Into thetrying to eat lead that trump has some of those bluecollar union workers, increase turnout in detroit, in general, get their voters to the polls better than the democrats did four years prior. Host we want viewers to join the conversation. If you support the bidenharris ticket, 202 7488000. 202 7488001. Undecided or supporting another, 202 7488002. Michigan voters, we want to hear from you, 202 7488003. Mr. Dulio, what is the president s campaign doing to try and recreate the win from 2016 . Guest continuing some of the messaging that was successful for him in 2016. Again, i will refer back to your conversation with todd. A lot of it is about trade and manufacturing. That was a, as i said, a very successful message that resonated with voters here in michigan, and i think that he is going to continue to do that, especially around the usmca, the renegotiated nafta. I think the president is going to come here and say, i told you four years ago that i was going to get rid of nafta and put Something Else in place that is better, and i did that. He is going to claim credit for that, and it is too early to know if it is better, but i would note that in an interview, Vice President biden admitted that he thought that usmca was better than nafta. And i think the Trump Campaign may try to use those words against the former Vice President. Host New York Times this money, trump struggles on gop turf as women favor biden in poll. Are you seeing this play out in michigan, as well . Guest we already have, to some extent. Ande were between 2016 2018, there was a pretty big shift, and a lot of that shift was seen in welleducated, suburban female voters in places like Oakland County. Affluentounty is an place with whitecollar workers, pretty affluent, highly 2016,ed, and we saw, in more of those voters marked their ballot for donald trump than many thought. But then in 2018, the vast majority of them did not support republicans here in michigan in the midterm, especially in our state races for governor, secretary of state, attorney general. Topsaw democrats sweep the of the ticket, flipped two congressional seats in michigan, the eighth and the 11th. One defeated an incumbent, one an open seat. Much of that has been attributed to many of those affluent,cated, suburban women leaving republicans and voting for democrats. So we have seen it the question is, can the president get some of those voters back . Host nancy is in rochester, michigan. Good morning. Caller hello there. Yes, home of Oakland University. I am just calling to say that i am one of those educated women of m,. S. Them from u and i am a trump person. I liked him and voted for him, but this time i am so pleased with what he has done. The posts inigan, michigan, i feel like i go down to the arenas, detroit, lake st. Clair, and that, and all ucr trump signs, trump flags on the boats. And we had a huge boat parade just for trump. They just nonstop. I feel the enthusiasm here in michigan. I was a little down may a month or so, two months ago, but not now. I feel that there has been a big change in michigan in the last month towards trump. Also they have got things going where there will be car caravans up the state here for trump. And the ground game here in michigan is much better than the democratic ground game. Host talk about that, professor. Makes sure, i think nancy a great point about the strength of trumps base. His supporters are fervently for the president. I am not sure that that is the campaign. The biden certainly, democrats are for him, but the veracity with which the Trump Supporters support their candidate is not matched. Signsether it is flags or and i will tell you, one defining point for me in 2016 was driving through the middle trump state and seeing sign after trump sign after trump sign, and it had to make you think, boy, there might be something to this, that the trump folks think he can win michigan. And he did. It was by a razor thin margin, but he won, obviously. It remains to be seen whether or not he can repeat that or the support that he has, the enthusiasm he has with his base, if that is enough to put him over the top again here in michigan. And what the caller referred to may be what we are seeing lead to tightening in those poles that you and todd mentioned. The Free Press Poll has biden up eight, but others have biden up two or three. A recent poll has a trump up two here in michigan. So it is close. Host a call from detroit. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. Vp, he saved the Auto Industry. And donald trump said that the Auto Industry felt. If we would not have let the Auto Industry fail, then america would have failed, because michigan is the place where you got union jobs to help grow your family, but at the same time, trump said, let it fail. That was my statement. What ision to you is, it that donald trump has done for michigan, michigan ians, in the past three years that i have, almost four years. I have not seen any growth. I live in farmington hills. Thank you, and have a blessed day. Host professor . Guest is that a question for me for a trump supporter . I think the president s team would. 2, first and foremost, to the renegotiation of nafta for folks in michigan. I think they would point two the Strong Economy that everybody agrees was in place. All of the major indicators of Economic Growth were quite high early in 2020, then to be derailed by covid19. And you hear that to some extent in trumps messaging, when he talks about the great economy that we had and it obviously faltered with coronavirus. But i think that they will point to those as successes. Host the president has raised concerns about mailin voting. What is the process for mailin voting in michigan . Guest sure. We have no excuse absentee ballots here in michigan. L like somell mai western states have. But we do have no excuse absentee balloting that is, frankly, new to the state of michigan. Voters adopted a constitutional amendment in 2018 to move to no excuse absentee, and we are huge rise expected, a in the number of absentee ballots that have been requested, well over 2 million. Some of the clerks here in michigan estimate that we will see roughly half of pallets cast in november come through the absentee process. Host what are the requirements for getting your absentee ballot in . Well, that is a point of contention here in michigan at the moment. The general requirements are pretty standard. One has to request an absentee ballot that is accompanied by a signature, and then when that ballot is received, it is filled out, you have to sign it again, put it into a privacy sleeve, and send that into your clerk. Questions we are seeing across the country about mail delays and counting of absentee ballots are the same here in michigan. So there is a push or get people to if they want to use an absentee ballot, to get them returned early or to drop them off at a Clerks Office or a dropbox that is secure and placed around the state, usually at city hall and places like that. But we are also seeing a Court Challenge about when those ballots must be in to be counted. The law in michigan is that they must be received by election day. Well, they are unions, a group of unions under the umbrella of another organization have challenged in court victorya just in the last week or so that would allow those absentee ballots to be counted well beyond election day. I believe up to two weeks. So with an election result that is likely to be close and having potentially absentee ballots counted well after election day, we in michigan may not know the results for many, many days. I would say that Court Challenge that i mentioned is the plaintiffs are an organization has a heavyoard union presence. The defendants are actually the state of michigan and the democratic secretary of state, and they have said they are not going to appeal that decision. The Republican Legislature here in michigan wants to be able to join that lawsuit as a party so that they can challenge that decision up the chain, and they have been denied that so far. But there is an appeal on the question of whether or not republicans can join the lawsuit coming up here pretty soon. We will see if they are able to and what might transpire if more courts get involved. Host decker, michigan, brian. Who are you supporting this november . Caller donald trump, fisher. I would donald trump, for sure. I want to know what is being done in michigan to correct the border fraud . 2016, a candidate asked for a recall, and they looked at voters at 125 . I think if it was 100 , trump wins big. Thanks a lot. Host professor . Guest a couple things. The caller is right that in 2016 there were questions about totals matching the number of votes cast, and we saw that in our august primary here in michigan when a significant number, significant percentage of precincts in the city of detroit did not have their poll book totals match the votes cast. Under michigan law, when that occurs, no recount is possible. And that is a problem. Because of that, the secretary of States Office has stepped in and said they are going to try to help the clerk in detroit and her team be ready for november 3. In terms of voter fraud, well, i mean, that may be what has happened there. Does it happen . Sure. Does it happen as much as the president says . I do not believe it does but there is no question that people have tried to cheat the system. I will point you back to our august primary when, according to the democratic secretary of States Office, about 900 people tried to vote absentee and vote in person. And maybe we give them the benefit of the doubt when they say they did not think there ballot was counted when they sent it in or maybe they forgot they sent it in and showed up at the polls. These was discovered that 900, roughly, people tried to vote twice. Joe, olympia, washington, supporting the president. Question or comment . Caller comment. And i am 84t trump, years old. I have voted democrat for the majority of my life. My family and community have been mainly democratic also. But as a boy, i father taught me the dangers of communism and socialism for a republic with a democratic government based on individual freedom, freespeech, privacy, religion, and so forth. Now the democrats are accepting a socialist ideology, a marxist socialism that uses violence, assault, killing, and stabbing of individuals and police and destruction, arson, robbery of property in an effort to overthrow our democratic republic. Success by the left means a government of Unlimited Power above and beyond our constitution and trades the power of our people for an overpowering central government. Our constitution provides the basis for a rule of law. If the constitution is considered just a piece of paper, there will no longer be a base. Host all right, joe. Professor, the president s remarks and comments about law and order, about socialism in this country, not just something that appeals to the base, perhaps. Perhaps it appeals to older americans. Guest well, and i think joe in olympia is indicative of Many Americans who think maybe that the Democratic Party has left them, that they thought they were squarely in the democrats camp but have seen the party maybe shift left over the years. And now they are looking for a new home, and folks like joe have founded with President Trump. Host reaction to the wall street journal and the president yesterday, saying millions of seniors would get a discount card, the cost likely in the billions. How does this play in michigan . Guest i think it plays in michigan as it does across the country, where folks are concerned about health care generally. Prescription drug costs have been an issue for years and years and years. By theis an attempt white house, by the Trump Campaign i should not conflate those, but it is a proposal that, if it goes through, would have meaningful impact, i think, for a lot of americans. Whether or not it causes them to change their mind on who they are going to vote for, that is an open question. Host judy is on the line. Caller i am definitely voting for bidenharris. I am very concerned about the rule of law under trump. Haveso concerned that i every month written a letter by hand to the chief justice of the Supreme Court. We mustonstantly said not do the political thing. We must do the right thing. And i have never done that before in my life, but i feel so inongly about rule of law our democracy that that is what i have been doing. Thank you. Host professor dulio, your reaction on hearing that from judy . Guest i think it is great that judy is taking the opportunity that is afforded to her and engaging in her democratic system. I would also say i think you could find a number of trauma voters who would make also almost the same statement about being concerned about the rule of law. Host battle creek, michigan. Edward, good morning. Caller i am concerned, as well, about the transfer of power, and i just cannot believe what trump said what was it, yesterday, the day before . I think it was yesterday at a press conference. He said i have got the quote pretty much he said, i have been complaining about the balance, and we have got to get rid of the i have been complaining about the ballots, and we have got to get rid of the ballots. He went on to say would not be so much as a peaceful transfer of power as a continuation of power. That kind of rhetoric to me sounds fascist. I know that the right is going to call biden a socialist. Biden is a moderate democrat, the most centrist democrat we nominated. Get ridp, the quote is, of the balance is that not what you get rid of the ballots. Is that not what he said . And then he said a transfer of power . Host i do not know, but the point being, we will take it. Professor . Guest and i do not have the full quote in front of me either, but i do not think that was the entirety of the statement. It was not a very good answer to the question that he was asked. And i think you read part of a National Review piece earlier in the show, and i think that that really points to a number of important components here. And one is that, as we said, that was not the full statement, and you have to kind of if you are going to give the president the benefit of the doubt, you have to read between the lines a little bit to see that what he was talking about when he said there was no transfer, he was, i think, saying that because he thinks he is going to win, so it will be a continuation because i am going to win. He did not put those words in there, but again, we have to maybe think about what was going through his mind, which is always a tough thing to do, right . We are not mind readers. Host eve in grand rapids, michigan. Caller good morning, cspan. Knowssor, i would like to i just heard the young lady that called in about all the signs for trump out everywhere. I do not see that many here in the grand rapids. But at the same time, everybody you know,the peacock, fluffs his feathers, and we can see it from a mile away. But at the same time, can that peacock do anything . I would like to say also that the reason why hillary did not win the last election here in michigan is because the eastside did not vote. And when the eastside does not vote, we do not get a democrat governor or democrat anything out of michigan. It does not go purple or blue. But i want to warn them that the east side, which is detroit i am in the grand rapids, consider the west, but when the eastside votes, oh, michigan will go blue. And this time the eastside, they are on their market, and they are ready. Everybody that things michigan is on Donald Trumps side, well, no, not this time. Host ok. Professor dulio . Guest right, i think eve is right, that when democrats on the east side show up, democrats have a much better chance. I do not doubt that eve does not see trump signs in grand rapids. Grand rapids is an interesting part of the state. It is in kent county in west michigan, which has traditionally been very republican. A different kind of republican, if you will. And folks might not like that i call it this, but if there is a bible belt in michigan, it is out west. And you get more christian conservatives over there, for instance in the 2016 republican primary, ted cruz won many counties out west. But cant county is changing, mike but cant county is changing, much like Oakland County on the east side kent county is changing. They are becoming more diverse and, with that, more democratic. So it does not surprise me that there are not trump signs and i grand rapids, but i bet if you go out in concentric circles, you will see a bunch of them in the further reaches of kent county. Host another call from michigan. Kevin . Caller that last caller saying not seeing signs in grand rapids, i am in a county north of kent, and i guess she does not get in the outskirts of the towns. Because in, like, wyoming and granville, there is all kinds of trump signs. I mean, twice or three times more than there was last election. From new a go county north, nothing but trump country. That is all i wanted to say. Thank you. Host professor dulio . Guest yeah, i think that is accurate. One exception maybe or two. I think if you get into muskegon, which is an Industrial Town on the west coast of michigan, and we had a caller which isanau county, generally a democratic county, more affluent, folks from downstate, many have second homes up in leelanau county. That is a place that has some democratic support, but the caller was right, the further north you go, if you get up into the northern part of the lower peninsula and certainly the upper peninsula, lots of trump support, that fervent trump support with signs and flags, outwardly supporting the president. Host who are these voters, the demographics . Guest white rural is really the two key ones. I would leave it at that, right . That is the kind of country that is up to the north. Lots of farming, lots of agriculture, as well. Host hartland, michigan. Michelle, good morning. Caller morning. Host go ahead. Caller yes, i am voting more so against socialism. I am voting against illegal immigration. I am voting against infanticide. Therefore, i have decided to vote for trump. My biggest concern in michigan will be the amount of voter fraud that we will have. We have a democrat governor, a democrat attorney general. I just saw on another station that a huge batch of votes were found in the trash. Coincidently, they were all trump votes. So my belief is that michigan will do whatever it takes to legal,a win for biden, illegal, or whatever they have to do. They will lie, cheat, or steal, but they will make sure biden wins this state. Host professor dulio . Guest i am not sure if i saw the same report, but i did read, i believe, this morning that there were some ballads that were found to be discarded toe ballots that were found be discarded, and the number was seven or 12, and several were for trump. I read that this morning. Not sure if it is the same report she referred to. I will also say, here is, again, a female voter who maybe we would not assume would vote for donald trump, but the issues that she cares about match up with the president. Host saginaw, michigan, eddie. Who are you supporting . Caller well, i am a natural democrat, which i have been voting democrat all my life. But trump you look pretty good. One thing i can say about trump, he is not your everyday politician. So you know, he is not that. And we have been so used to seeing a straightlaced politician doing the same thing every four years. But my question to dave is, where do they be getting these poll numbers from . Is takingny people this poll . I mean, do they go from state to state . How do that work . I stayt like dave said, in saginaw like on the east side, but when you start venturing out towards midland, friedland, them rural areas, like he said, it is trump, trump, trump signs everywhere. And up around my area, i dont even hardly see no biden signs or trump signs. You know, not as much as i would if i drove out to friedland, michigan, or midland, michigan. I would like to know, when it comes to these polls, i be hearing these different stations talking about the polls. Biden by three or trump by four. How many peoples do they pick or get to come up with this decision . Thank you. A greatddie, it is question, one that has been on the mind of a lot of voters since 2016 when the polls, at least in states like michigan and pennsylvania, wisconsin, even ohio were off the mark. They did not get the result correct. Some of them may have to do with the number of people who are surveyed. Two point to that particular answer, eddie, it depends on the poll. Sometimes you will see, in the Free Press Poll Todd Spangler talked about earlier, there were 600 voters. Sometimes you will see it up to 1000 or 1200. And the key part of any poll, when talking about trying to predict an election result, is a sample. And the most important piece of that is to predict what turnout is going to look like on election day. , orollsters have to guess estimate, how many people and what kinds of people, with what characteristics, are going to turn out on election day. And that was why the polls were often they michigan in 2016. Before election day had oversample relative to turnout, over sampled wayne county and under sampled paces places up north. Host gwen is in detroit. Caller good morning. You know, i woke up election morning when trump won, but i was not mad at trump. I voted for hillary. We had a problem with our clerk and with 70 of our absentee ballots being thrown out because they cannot be counted. It was a hot mess. Votes. Nly won by 11,000 if they could have counted any of our votes they could have andted half of the votes, hillary would have been president of the United States. Now we have got to make sure in detroit that that does not happen again. Hillary did not come here. Ordid not set up booths some people knocking door to door, she just assumed she had the votes. At least biden is more liked than hillary. Im a Bernie Sanders supporter, and i do not know why all of these people are talking about socialism. We have social programs in place right now that they enjoy. So that is my take on it. Have a great day. I think i would agree with the statement that biden is more wellliked than Hillary Clinton. That is here in michigan, as well as across the country. I have not seen a report that indicates that 70,000 absentee ballots were not counted in detroit. That is not to say that there were not issues with election and Election Administration in 2016. There certainly were. But i do not believe that i have seen any evidence that would indicate that 70,000 votes were not counted. Host david is also in detroit. Good morning. Caller good morning, greta and washington journal. And to our friend from oakland the wrong, you are at university. You should come down south to the university of detroit. Anyway, what i want to say is, like, last night and went and got my signs, so my signs are proudly displayed from my house and says bidenharris. And there is no scientific poll that you can prove out that signs will drive people to the ballot. And let me just say this, my final thought on this, in 2016 i always volunteered, knocked on doors, put signs in front of peoples houses. Yes, i would have to agree with the lady from detroit two speakers before me, we were very anemic here in detroit, but i do not see that in 2020. I see enthusiasm and can feel energy. I can feel the people here in detroit are going to get out and do what theyre supposed to do. We are going to drive people to the polls. And i believe that if we can turn out detroit, i believe that michigan will go to blue. I do not believe that took place in 2016. For all of you people who live north and you feel this passion about a man who is taking advantage of you, a man who would not give anything for you i am a veteran and was very offended when that comment that came out in the atlantic that said we were losers, and my son is in the air force. No, i do not believe in trump. I do not believe in nothing that that man said. And if youre one who would take a schechter and you want to vote for him, go ahead. If covid gets you, that is too bad. Host professor dulio, his first remarks about the state of play in michigan guest sure, at first i would say to the caller, thank you for your service. Really, the state of play, the caller said he went and got a sign and is now proudly displaying it in his yard. I think that, again, is some evidence, at least with this one individual, to say there is some Energy Behind the bidenharris ticket and that was probably not there in 2016, certainly citywide in detroit there was not the enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton that they needed. Another question is, was that an orchid the Clinton Campaign have was that inherent or could the Clinton Campaign have bumped up there numbers by paying more attention to detroit . They generally ignored the state until the very last minute, and then they were in the grand rapids, which does not make any sense to me. That is a republican stronghold, except for the city of grand rapids, but the Clinton Campaign should have been in detroit the weekend before election day, and they were not. The Biden Campaign and the Democratic Party, by all accounts, are doing things to try and not repeat the scenario. Host who are the surrogates that each campaign is relying on to energize and get out there voters in the michigan . Guest sure, we have seen jill biden here. Couple of the president s children here. Reallythers, but it has been the candidates and their closest surrogates that have been here in michigan. Host polly in rochester, michigan. Caller yes, what is all this propaganda that i am hearing . I called this number that they showed me on tv to support trump, and then i get all of this propaganda. What is this . Is this the wrong number to call to support trump then . Host you are a michigan voter, so we put you on the line for michigan voters. That absolutely say who you are voting for. Caller yes, trump. Host ok. Caller absolutely, but why was all this other stuff on when i was holding, and i was listening to all these people who are so misinformed, they do not understand host polly, you are listening to other peoples opinions, people who do not agree, i guess, with you. That is the nature of the program. Caller i thought that this number, i would just call it, and my vote would go in for trump. I do not want to hear anybody elses misinformed host then i suggest you turn the channel because on this program, you will hear alternate types of viewpoints. Thomas in michigan. Caller i am calling to let you know, everybody talking about all this stuff, but they forget to talk about coronavirus. Over 200,000 something people, and nothing to be done. And the fights over ppe equipment and all the other stuff, and trump did not put on executive orders. Take it from there. That is the way it is. I am a biden supporter. If you like nothing to get done about coronavirus is about coronavirus and thousands of people dying every day, go for it. Host professor dulio . Hit onyeah, the caller an issue that is also really important here in michigan, the coronavirus response. I think that michigan is a little different in terms of the politics here, because we have criticize ourent governor, Governor Whitmer, and Governor Whitmer has not been shy about punching back. We have seen that basically from march through yesterday when she signed a letter asking for congressional inquiry, along with Governor Cuomo in new york, over the president s handling of the coronavirus. Has prettyr whitmer strong standing here in michigan. The Free Press Poll Todd Spangler talked about earlier got showed that she has 55 , 57 job approval, but that does not mention has been without criticism during the response. One of those criticisms had to contacta contract for tracing during the early months of the pandemic that and it shall he went to that initially went to a tied into Democratic Candidates that was going to have a bunch of data about people that had been contracted or that had contracted covid19, and she eventually had to cancel that. There is some debate over who had signed off on that. I am not sure we really got to the answer on that one. The governor has taken some heat lockdowns and severity of the lockdowns, what some would call severe here in michigan. I think, too, that some will look at the nursing home policy that was put in place, i believe, over about onethird of all deaths in michigan from covid19 have been in nursing homes. So there are certainly questions to be asked of the governor and the administration. And that really just leads into more of the backandforth between the white house and the governors office, between President Trump and Governor Whitmer, as well as other folks here in michigan. Host another call from michigan. Who are you supporting . Caller there is only one person. O support, joe biden i cannot support a criminal. He is a criminal. All these people, you can tell where they get their talking points. They are fox people. They drink the koolaid. Callll as the northern them northern rednecks. There is no population up there, nobody with any brain cells up there. Donald trump is a criminal. They say, oh, he is a great businessman . Six bankruptcies. He is a failure. And covid . He is a failure, disgrace to this country. First to worst, donnie. That is what you have done to us. Great job. There is only one candidate, along with the 500 people in the intelligence that say he should never be elected again and should have never been elected. Thank you. Dulio,ll right, david lets end here because the house is going to gavel in for a pro forma session in a few minutes, by just going over what youre watching for on Election Night in the state of michigan and where our viewers should be watching in the state. Think there are a number of factors and dynamics that are important. Turnout is at the top of the list, and i think that turnout in some key places. The city of detroit has got to be at the top of that list. If democrats get their numbers, their targets in detroit, they are in a strong position. If the president can drive turnout in places where he is strong, it is good news for him. And i think that in michigan, this is a turnout election. Whoever does a better job of turning their people are probably wins. I think you have to look at those 12 counties, like mccombs, that had a plurality vote for obama in 2012 and then flipped to trump. Do they stay with trump . Do they go back to blue . What the margins are there. So i think it is really about turnout really. The comingabout weeks before Election Night, what will you be watching . Guest well, i think the messaging from both candidates, the attempts from the Biden Campaign to eat into the trump lead in some places of the state, as i mentioned, like Macomb County. And i also note, too, the number of absentee ballots that are turned in. 2 millionat well over have already been requested. That number is probably going to still go up. We will have to track the number that had been returned to know how many are getting close to ift election day cut off or the courts, if the Current Court decision stands, if absentee ballots can get counted beyond election day. Our secretary of state, a week or two ago, said something to the effect of it may not be Election Night but election week here in michigan. So we may not know who wins michigans 16 electoral votes until well after november 3. Host down ballot, what are the key races to be watching in the senate and house races . Guest we have a hotly contested u. S. Senate race between john james, republican challenger, an incumbent senator gary peters. That race has tightened. There is a pretty significant air war between the two campaigns, as well as their allies. Over issues Like Health Care and economy. Pretty standard issues. But that is a race that is probably also going to go down to the wire. We have two congressional races that [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] derrick for Vice President of these United States on any major party ticket. Shes already made history at the local level, in san francisco. At the state level as attorney general of the state of california, and certainly as a United States senator. And i would be remiss and amos brown would kill me if i did not say that she
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