According to a recent poll, Donald Trump is currently ahead of Joe Biden in the U.S. presidential election race in Michigan.
According to a recent poll by CNN, conducted from March 13 to 16 with 1,132 registered voters, it was found that in a two-way match-up, 50 percent of voters would support Trump, while 42 percent would vote for Biden. However, in a four-way match-up involving Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, Trump would receive 40 percent of the vote, while Biden would get 34 percent.
Representatives for Trump and Biden were contacted by Newsweek via email for comment.
The Context
Michigan holds significant importance as a crucial swing state. In the 2020 election, Biden successfully won the state, overturning Trump’s narrow victory with a margin of less than 0.3 percentage points in 2016. Together with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Michigan forms part of the esteemed “blue wall” states that Biden managed to reclaim for the Democratic Party, ultimately contributing to his triumph in the race for the White House.
In December, Newsweek conducted a poll that indicated the possibility of the seat flipping red again in the upcoming November vote. The poll further revealed that the president had a net approval rating of -14 percent in the state.
During a conference in Detroit in December, Muslim community leaders from several swing states, including Michigan, pledged to withdraw their support for Biden. They cited his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as the reason behind their decision. It is important to note that Michigan has the highest number of Arab Americans in the country.
What We Know
In Michigan, Biden’s performance has received approval from 35 percent of the respondents, as per the CNN poll.
According to a recent survey, 45 percent of voters believe that the country would experience positive outcomes if Republicans were to gain control of the Senate in the upcoming November elections. On the other hand, 35 percent of respondents expressed concerns that the country would fare worse, while 20 percent believed there would be no significant change.
Support for Biden and Trump in the country as a whole is fairly evenly split, with most polls showing just a one percentage point difference between the two politicians.
Views
According to Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science in the School of Public Policy at University College London, there is a possibility that Trump could make a strong bid for Michigan.
According to Gift, Michigan has always played a crucial role in the success of Democratic candidates in the past three decades. Trump managed to narrowly win over the state in 2016, and recent polls suggest that he has a strong chance of doing so again.
Biden’s low approval ratings in Michigan are indicative of a larger trend throughout the Rust Belt, including states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. The president is struggling to connect with voters on both cultural and everyday issues.
The Democratic Party needs to address the shifting demographics among working-class whites who are now leaning toward the Republican Party. To compensate for these losses, Democrats must focus on mobilizing urban and young voters in key cities such as Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor. Currently, Biden is facing challenges in effectively engaging these voter bases.
