Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses supporters before signing legislation to repeal the 1931 abortion ban statute, which criminalized abortion in nearly all cases, during a bill signing ceremony, on April 5, in Birmingham, Mich.Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press
The past year has been a whirlwind for Michigan’s Democrats, ever since voters handed Governor Gretchen Whitmer an easy re-election and gave her party control of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years.
The party has used this power to implement a flurry of policies: union-friendly labour laws, school meals programs, money for infrastructure and subsidies for new factories. Along the way, they’ve tried to build a broad governing coalition encompassing trade unions to big business, working-class inner cities to affluent suburbs.
While Ms. Whitmer rocketed to prominence as foil to then-U.S. president Donald Trump during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this caricature has often obscured the moderate, technocratic brand she is cultivating within her state.
“I will work with anyone who’s serious about solving problems,” she declared in an address to lawmakers earlier this year. “Let’s show everyone that the cure for cynicism is competence.”
This big-tent approach to politics could become a roadmap for Democrats federally as they try to lock down a majority voting block in 2024′s fractious presidential election. But it has also undergone severe tests this fall, amid the most extensive auto strike in decades and furious divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
It all means that this key swing state could either be a glimpse at the future of the Democratic Party – or a case study in how its internal contradictions make it collapse in on itself.
Veronica Klinefelt, a state senator from the Detroit suburbs, contends that there is a clear path to victory for candidates who can focus on bread-and-butter issues and avoid the country’s increasingly angry rhetoric.
In her campaign last year, which helped give the Democrats their legislative majority by knocking off a Republican incumbent, she emphasised practical promises on infrastructure, education and the cost of prescription drugs.
“Voters want people that will sit down and talk to each other. We don’t have to hate each other,” she said in her office, overlooking Michigan’s stately, domed legislature building in the quiet state capital of Lansing. “They’re exhausted with the constant crisis and drama.”
Ms. Whitmer won her first gubernatorial run in 2018 by defeating a Bernie Sanders-backed leftist in the primary and running on a bipartisan promise to “fix the damn roads.” Her decisive enforcement of pandemic safety rules made her a folk hero to American liberals and the target of a militia kidnapping plot.
The governor came out of it with both a burnished reputation and a memorable nickname – Big Gretch – bestowed by Detroit hip-hop artist Gmac Cash in a viral video.
By 2022, Democrats’ prospects were also buoyed by the fall of Roe v. Wade. Michigan abortion-rights activists drafted an amendment to the state constitution guaranteeing reproductive freedom. The measure, Proposition 3, passed decisively and had the side effect of driving voter turnout that mostly favoured the Democrats.
“We had something like 30,000 people sign up to get involved,” said Sommer Foster of Michigan Voices, one of the groups that campaigned for the abortion amendment. “I’ve been doing politics in Michigan for 20 years and I’ve never seen so many people wanting to figure out what they could do.”
The Republicans, for their part, took a hard right turn. They nominated an anti-abortion conservative pundit for governor and election deniers for secretary of state and attorney-general. It helped reinforce a voter swap between the two parties that has been unfolding in Michigan since 2016. While some blue-collar former Democrats have gravitated to Mr. Trump, many white-collar suburban moderates have moved in the opposite direction.
Ryan Reese, 45, a Lutheran pastor in the city of Warren, said he was motivated to get involved in Democratic organizing last year to help defeat the GOP’s secretary of state candidate, Kristina Karamo, a high-profile conspiracy theorist.
“I became involved because she ticked me off. Her focus on challenging the 2020 election was detrimental to the democratic process and probably would have ruined our secretary of state office,” he said.
Since taking control of both legislative houses, Ms. Whitmer’s administration has plowed forward. It overturned a state right-to-work law and also obliged non-union contractors to pay union-level wages on government projects; ramped up the education budget, adding school breakfast and lunch programs; expanded a low-income tax credit; and added sexual orientation to the state anti-discrimination law.
Abortion rights protesters attend a rally outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on June 24, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
The governor has also forged a close relationship with business leaders, funnelling public grants into tech and manufacturing, with a particular focus on helping automakers’ transition to electric vehicles.
“She set out to be aggressive with the EV transition. The resources the state has for economic development, we have not had in many years with that as a major priority,” said Mark Burton, a Lansing lawyer and lobbyist who previously worked as Ms. Whitmer’s chief strategist.
There are, of course, inherent tensions in trying to court wealthy corporations when your base includes increasingly activist trade unions. In September and October, the United Autoworkers undertook their first simultaneous strike at all of Detroit’s Big Three car makers.
Ms. Whitmer spoke at a rally for the union early in the strike and kept in touch with both sides. But Mr. Burton said she was cautious in her approach. “The governor is trying not to be too involved in that,” he said in an interview during the labour dispute.
Even harder to navigate has been Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. In addition to the sharp divisions running through the Democratic Party nationally, with older voters more sympathetic toward the Israelis and younger Democrats tending to favour the Palestinians, Michigan also has large Muslim and Arab-American communities. In recent years, these have leaned Democratic and can easily tip a close election.
After Hamas’s massacres of Israelis on Oct. 7, Ms. Whitmer’s initial reaction was muted. In a tweet late that afternoon, she made no direct reference to either the violence or the country where it was happening, referring only vaguely to “communities impacted by what’s happening in the region.”
Only after a wave of online outrage did she follow up a few hours later with a more substantive condemnation of “violence against Israel.” During a rally at a synagogue a few days later, she affirmed that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
This, in turn, provoked dismay from Muslim and Arab Americans. At one point, the governor had to cancel plans to speak at a fundraiser for a Muslim-led health clinic in Dearborn to avoid a planned protest against her presence.
Efforts to pass a resolution affirming support for Israel stalled in the state legislature. Some of the state’s highest-profile Jewish Democrats, including Attorney-General Dana Nessel, have fought on X, formerly known as Twitter, with Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American Detroit congresswoman.
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American political organizer in Dearborn, said that, in future, Muslim and Arab-American voters may choose to not vote at all in races where both the Democrat and Republican favour Israel. This could spell disaster next year for President Joe Biden, who is backing Israel with military aid.
“We feel very hurt and angered and betrayed by what this Democratic administration has done, even if we’re not necessarily surprised,” Mr. Zahr said.
At a meeting one fall evening at a union hall on an arterial road in Warren, a suburban city on the other end of Detroit’s sprawling metro region, local Democratic organizers were frank about how much work they will have to do to hold on to power.
Tellingly, while the Democrats won all four state executive offices by double digits last year, the margins in the legislative elections were decided by less than two percentage points. It suggests Michigan is evenly split and that the Republicans’ major error was choosing extreme candidates for the top of their ticket.
Mindy Moore, 67, a city councillor, recalled how when she first ran for municipal office 20 years ago, voters only asked about local issues. Now, they raise culture-war hot buttons that have nothing to do with her work.
“They ask about the border and the death penalty and whether I think boys can be girls and girls can be boys. I tell them I’m not going to be deciding those issues,” she said. “It’s more toxic now than I’ve ever seen it.”
Donavan McKinney, a 31-year-old first-term Democratic state legislator, recounted his casual conversations with Republican colleagues across the aisle.
“They tell me how angry they are that this is the first time they have no say in the state government,” he said. “They’re coming for us next year.”
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
