Can Trump Win Michigan?
Can Donald Trump flip traditionally blue states like Michigan?
Donald Trump could be the first Republican presidential nominee to win Michigan since 1988, says Gongwer News Service editor Zach Gorchow, but Trump is fighting an uphill battle to flip the state.
Trump might draw out white, working class voters who might not ordinarily vote, Gorchow says. At the same time, he says, Hillary Clinton is likely to get fewer votes in Detroit than Barack Obama in 2012, based on population loss and a lack of the excitement that surrounded Obama as the first African-American nominee. Along with the possible draw of Sanders supports toward candidate Jill Stein, he says, the gap could narrow, making a Trump win “not unthinkable.”
“He has to keep emphasizing the things that worked for him in the primary,” if he wants to win Michigan, says Gorchow.
Gorchow says he doesn’t see the change of the law on straight-ticket voting being a large influence in the primaries at the presidential level. It may take longer to fill out, he says, and could have an effect on items at the bottom of the ballot, but will not have a significant impact on Clinton or Trump.
“I’ve felt that the impact of eliminating the straight ticket system has been overstated in terms of how it’s going to effect the vote,” says Gorchow.
To hear more of Gorchow’s conversation with Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson, click on the audio player above. They also discuss Governor Rick Snyder signing the controversial DPS bills into law this week.
“The governor made it clear that he was not going to fight and die on the hill for the Detroit Education Commission” says Gorchow. The DEC was a sticking point for Democrats and several Republicans who worked on the reform bills. Gorchow says Snyder is a “numbers guy, for better or worse.”
